H2O: No Ordinary Love
by Honey Jenkins
Summary: Cleo says she needs space, but Lewis won't give up on her so easily. Preoccupied with winning her back, he has no time for Charlotte. Rikki and Emma disagree about boys, and the moon pool claims another victim. All the magic and fun of mermaids, friendship, and falling in love! Starts from the beginning of Season 2, and deviates from there.
1. Chapter 1

**Obligatory Precursory Author's Notations:**

Hello, wonderful readers!

I'd like to make a point of saying that I started writing this before production for _Mako Mermaids_ was announced, and all plot twists and details are inspired purely from the original _H2O: Just Add Water_ series. I wanted to get this out there before the new show comes out and may or may not mirror ideas I had on my own. Just a bit of author's pride, is all. :)

I am not Australian, do not live in Australia, nor do I have close friends or family there to reference, so I'm drawing on what knowledge the show and Google have to offer in cultural quirks. For native Australians who may be reading this, I do apologise for any lingo that may be clumsy and misplaced. I set my Word language to Australian English, so at least the spelling is a bit more consistent.

My fic's timeline starts from **Season 2, Episode 2: Control** and goes on from there.

**Thematic/Pairing Spoilers...  
**Personally, I enjoy H2O for three reasons: magic, mermaids, and cute couples. If you're not fond of happy endings, this one isn't for you. My pairings are Lewis/Cleo, Zane/Rikki, and Emma/Ash.

Now that you have been duly warned, you may commence! Thanks so much for reading!

* * *

i

Cleo sat on her bed, bemoaning the state of things to Lewis. Her back was turned to him as he tried his hardest to reassure her.

"Hey, you still have me," he said.

"I know." His attempts to make her smile did nothing. If anything she looked like she was ready to cry. "And if things were halfway normal that would be great. But you can't help me right now, Lewis."

"Yes, I can! I can fix it!" he gestured to the easel where the mess of Cleo's failed attempts to learn how to tame her powers through painting showed colourfully on the page.

"_Why _are you always having to _fix_ everyone?" Lewis's face fell. He had never seen her so angry before. Cleo was always the glaring optimist; often to a fault. Now she looked determined to make him as unhappy as she was. "You can't 'fix' us this time! This is up to Emma, and Rikki, and me."

She shook her head at him. "You're not one of us, Lewis."

He shrugged, thinking this must be one of those female tempers that would blow over in a day or two. "I almost am."

"No. You're not." She said it with decision.

"I don't know how to say this, Lewis. But…" she took a great gulp. "I think it would be better if I were alone for a while."

Lewis nodded. She could use a break from the others. Maybe if she had less distractions she could focus on her powers and get them under control quicker. "That's a good idea."

He was confused when she rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I mean, really alone. As in by myself."

He blinked sadly at her, dreading what might come next. She couldn't possibly mean…

"Without a boyfriend."

With those three words, Lewis felt his world crumble. It shouldn't have come as such a surprise. Things were going too well to last. He should have known a guy like him couldn't hold on to a girl like… well, a girl who was secretly a mermaid. And although Cleo sometimes thought he liked her purely for the scientific possibilities of the change she'd gone through, she meant so much more to him than that. But he didn't make a fuss. Not like he had for the past few weeks.

He'd been constantly by her side, like algae on a rock; overwhelmed, and he admitted, a little crazy over the sheer excitement of being Cleo's boyfriend. They'd been friends for so long, always dodging the subject of dance partners and date nights and unsure of each other's feelings. They hadn't time to focus on their developing relationship before Denman showed up a second time, completely blowing any chance of a breather by the drama she caused. Being suddenly free to show just how much Cleo meant to him made Lewis overzealous.

He could hear Rikki's voice in his head with her biting sarcasm towards that understatement.

And now Cleo was rejecting him flat out because she needed space. He'd pushed his luck with her, but he wouldn't anymore. If there was the slightest chance of getting her back he knew he had to give her the space she asked for and show her he could respect her wishes.

Even though it killed him to do it.

He glumly inquired if there was anything he could do differently to reverse her decision, but he didn't make much of an effort. He felt too defeated. A small voice in his head was telling him it was over and there was nothing to be done. He was struggling with all his might to silence it.

"No, Lewis. I really need to concentrate on my powers."

He rose slowly from the bed and stopped just short of the door. He wanted to tell her it was no good; that he'd be there for her anyway, no matter how much distance she put between them. His hand wavered at the doorknob. That cruel voice inside told him she was right. Who was he to argue about something he barely understood? He could look at a mermaid's biological makeup under a microscope as much as he liked. It would never explain what she _really _went through living a secret life with a giant tail.

He hated giving up so easily, but he convinced himself it was what Cleo wanted.

He didn't know how wrong he was.

-x-

Cleo continued to sit on her bed after he left. She didn't actually want to work on controlling her powers like she told him—like she would tell Emma and Rikki when she announced she'd split up with Lewis. She didn't want to use her powers ever again. Not with the image of Lewis shivering and scared witless on Mako because of her, or her accidental knocking him into the moon pool after the last time she was unable to gain control. She didn't _want_ space from Lewis. Not really. She was just too frightened to be around him anymore.

She couldn't imagine how awful it would be if she ever did anything worse than tossing him around in a storm, and she was _sure_ she never wanted to find out. What if they got in a fight and he ended up injured because her powers got the best of her? How could she live with herself knowing she'd been the cause of his pain? She knew it hurt him now to be away from her, but she told herself that in the long run this was best for him. And somehow she would have to get on without his constant attention.

She fell back onto her bedspread and stared at her ceiling for several long seconds before curling up into a sad little ball. She missed him already.

-x-

Lewis gave her a week. A week of only speaking to her after she initiated conversation. A week of stilted waves and passing so close he could have reached out and tugged her hair, but refrained for fear of breaking their agreement that she be given "space."

He didn't ask about how her powers were coming along, but from what Emma and Rikki said, and the glimpses he caught of her, she wasn't trying to use them any more than he was trying to beat Byron's surfing record. Emma dodged his questions, repeating how much Cleo needed to be let alone. Rikki said Cleo was in denial about so many things that it would be a miracle if she could be persuaded into getting off the couch.

While waiting for Cleo to give him a sign of acceptance, Lewis also used his time trying to avoid Charlotte.

The girl was relentless. She was pushy and overly attentive, and nothing like Cleo in looks or personality. He supposed there was nothing largely unappealing in her features, though secretly agreed with Rikki that her clothes didn't help her larger figure, and he was flattered by her obvious interest in him. He had always been so absorbed in his scientific ventures that figuring out how much he cared for Cleo was a bit of a surprise even for him. No girls had ever shown a keen interest in Lewis McCartney unless they wanted help on a biology quiz. Except for Cleo, of course. But Charlotte was _not_ Cleo, and Lewis wanted Cleo back.

After the week was up and Lewis had all he could handle of being nothing more than an invisible friend, he made his way to the Sertori's house.

Cleo greeted him cheerfully as if nothing had happened. As if their relationship had never changed to begin with. Lewis was tired of playing this game.

She let him follow her up to her room where she was cleaning her fish tank. All the aquatic creatures were being kept in a separate container. There was no floating water blob in the air, nor did Cleo create one while she went back to scrubbing the sides of the aquarium with her pink rubber gloves and sponge. It seemed quite normal except for the fact that Cleo never cleaned her fish tank normally. Not since the incident on Mako Island had given her a better way.

"You're not even working on your powers!" he exclaimed, as soon as the door was shut.

"Lewis…"

"What? Am I wrong?"

"You don't understand how hard it is to be a mermaid," she said, pursing her lips between phrases. "It's not like we chase dolphins all day and swim carefree in the ocean. It's hard work sometimes."

"I know that. Why else do you think I've been trying to help you?" He handed her the scummy toothbrush she used for detailing the tank ornaments.

"I thought we'd been over this. There are some things you just _can't _help with."

"So as long as you're a mermaid, we can't be together?" He pleaded wordlessly for her to say no.

Her toothbrush paused mid-scrape. "That's not what I mean."

Lewis went on since he had _not_ heard a no. "Because if that's the problem—our being different in molecular structure, I can do more research! I can find out how to get you back to normal. Maybe the moon pool on a different night…"

"Lewis, no. I _like_ being a mermaid. I wouldn't want to change back now. It's just that… there are things I have to work out on my own. You can't always fix our problems with a set of test tubes." She pushed a ticklish spiral of hair out of her eyes. "Look, it's not just about…physically learning how to control my powers. I have to sort out how I feel as well."

"Do your powers change how you feel about me?"

Cleo sighed as she stripped off her rubber gloves and put away her cleaning supplies. Why was it all so complicated? Essentially, the answer was no. But her powers did pose a threat she wasn't willing to put him under.

"Sometimes a girl just needs space."

"And I've thought of that! You can have space! Just because we don't spend every minute together or hold hands each time we meet or go to every party as a couple doesn't mean we have to break up, does it? I can give you the space you want. Just don't…" he sighed and looked straight into her worried brown eyes, "don't do this."

She fiddled with the locket on her neck. "Why are you so persistent about it?"

Lewis reached and took her hand. "You know why. It's because you're really important to me, Cleo. And I'm afraid that if I let you go, I'll never get you back. I don't want to lose you. Not to some other guy, or your powers, or anything."

"And you're important to me." The relief on his face was visible. Cleo leaned towards him and he titled his head downward to kiss. An image of his horrified face on Mako flashed before her eyes, stopping her cold. It would be selfish to allow him to do this. She wouldn't let him. Not until she knew what she was capable of and how to keep her powers at bay. She pulled back, making that dreadfully forlorn expression reappear on Lewis's face.

"I'm sorry. We can't be together, Lewis. At least… not for right now."

"And who knows?" she said with a light heartedness she didn't feel, "Maybe you'll discover something amazing while you don't have me around to distract you from your projects."

He didn't so much as nod in response. Cleo wanted to throw her arms around him and promise it would be okay, but she knew she wouldn't have the courage to let him go if she did.

"Rikki was going to meet me here in a little bit so we can go over some homework."

"Alright," he said bitterly. "I can take a hint. I'll go."

"I'll see you later?"

He tried to smile back at her, but all he could manage was a slight tweak in his downcast eyes. Cleo felt she had no choice but to let him walk away frustrated and bewildered.

Life could be so unfair sometimes.

* * *

**Update Days** will be **Sundays** and **Wednesdays**, **PDT**. I'm not great at hitting it right on the dot (like at midnight) but I'll do my best to be punctual!


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:** I know I said this in the first author's note, but _just_ to reiterate, I had this written long before _Mako Mermaids_ was a thing. I wish to be clear on that in case there's any confusion as to what I'm basing my story on. Seasons 1 and 2 of H2O is the only inspiration I draw from. Not even Season 3, which I have not seen. Many, many thanks to those who have taken the time to review!

* * *

ii

Lewis paused in his efforts to wipe the beads of sweat that had developed on his forehead. It was cool in the cave, but his research was laborious. He spent most of his days and nights there now, by and above the moon pool: collecting samples, taking notes, and studying every aquatic creature that even faintly resembled the makeup of his mermaid friends.

He would have much rather hung out at the Juicenet with Cleo and the girls, but it was too awkward deciding how to act around her. More than likely he'd end up brooding silently across the booth, adding little to the conversation and caring even less about the activity around him.

Not to mention the constant presence of Charlotte anytime he tried to be alone with them.

Cleo's kindhearted nature—and an accident with a sprinkler—had made it so she was the first to show Charlotte around at school and make her feel welcome. From such she'd latched on to her in desperation to make friends in a new place. It was almost as hard for Cleo, Rikki, and Emma to get away from her as it was for Lewis. Mako Island was the only place they were safe from her incessant badgering and need to be accepted; although Cleo didn't visit Mako quite as often as before. He knew it was his fault for always being there. She felt as awkward as he did when they were together; totally unsure of themselves, just like before. Like fish on land.

But he was not giving up on his project, even to make Cleo more comfortable. Science would show him how to get her back, he was sure of it. There had to be something here; in the rocks maybe or the water itself that would help Cleo with her powers. She was right about one thing. He did _not_ understand about being a mermaid if it meant they had to break up.

He glanced at his watch and grimaced. Moonrise had already begun, and tonight was a full one. He usually helped the girls board up the house they stayed at during a full moon and hung about until the danger was ended. He grabbed his phone to ring Emma and tell her he was coming, but he'd be a bit late.

His phone was dead. Lewis narrowed his eyes at it. He couldn't remember the last time he'd charged the thing.

Fine. There was more than one way to net a shark. He reluctantly began packing away his tools to set out for Emma's place. He was always there for them during the full moon and he wasn't about to let them down now.

As he stooped to pick up his algae sample, his foot knocked against his salinometer and sent it rolling straight into the moon pool. Lewis groaned and peered into the water. The salinometer was borrowed from the school lab and he was not prepared to have Mr. McLaren point him out as an irresponsible bloke.

After tossing aside his shoes and hat he dove in after it. The water was perfectly clear and his eyes hardly stung when he opened them to find the tool. He swum straight for the bottom where the salinometer had sunk to and surfaced with it clutched in his hand. He tossed it on land, grumbling about borrowed equipment and shaking the water from his hair. He was soaked to the skin when he climbed out of the pool.

On his way back to the mainland he started coughing violently in the night chill. His sinuses felt funny and his head ached. By the time he anchored his boat and double checked his equipment box, his eyesight was growing bleary. He decided it would be best just to go home and sleep. The girls could handle one full moon without him. They were always shooing him away this time of the month. They wouldn't miss him all that much.

Thinking only of his throbbing muscles, he plunked down on his bed and fell fast asleep.

-x-

The morning dawned without any fanfare.

Lewis shuffled to the bathroom in his half-sleeping state—normal for this time of the morning—and turned on the shower. He stripped down to his grundies and waited a minute or two, putting his hand under the nozzle to test the water temperature.

"Eh… decent," he mumbled to no one in particular.

He stepped in, blindly reaching for the soap. Lewis thought his legs must be in rebellion when they began to wobble. He looked down, ready to chide them for acting so weird when the unwarranted bubbles that swirled around his entire body made him stumble back and fall.

Stunned for a moment, he did nothing but sit. But awkwardly, as his posterior was all wrong.

First of all, his legs were gone. In place of them was a very long appendage covered in shimmering blue scales.

A _tail_. Lewis had a tail.

"Ah, stupid!" he cried aloud. "I should have known!"

This wasn't happening. It was a dream. No, a nightmare, actually. There was no way that he was a… that he'd transformed into… "No, no, no, no."

He sputtered and scooted away from the running water as best he could.

He'd always thought the girls were elegant, fantastic super humans with amazing powers. He never thought of the difficulty of everyday tasks except where he was called in to help. Sure, he knew how hard it was to drag one of the girls out of the water, and over time had learned how best to keep a tail hidden, but it was totally new having the problem on his end. Literally.

Lewis glanced down again, panicked for a moment. A vital part of his male anatomy had retracted. That was just great. If anyone wanted to question his manliness now, he wouldn't bother to argue. And he was never going to dry off with his tail directly under the shower's trajectory. Maybe he could push the water away from him like Cleo did. He tried a few times without any luck.

Well if he couldn't move the water, maybe he could freeze it. He shot his hand out towards the shower head without creating the slightest decrease in temperature.

He didn't even bother trying to steam it.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes:** We interrupt your regularly scheduled Clewis chapter for a bit of Zane and Rikki, or... Zikki. Hehehe. There's something about H2O ships that have the most fun names. :D

* * *

iii

Zane was back in town.

When Rikki heard he'd arrived right after his graduation, she told herself it didn't matter; that she didn't care and definitely didn't want him back. It was easy enough to repeat the words in her head, but somehow her feet kept taking her to the track where he was known to hang out.

Emma's warnings to stay away from him rang clear in her mind—that was probably what made it so easy to walk right in front of his dirt bike as it came to a stop.

"Rikki!" he called, taking of his helmet, "I knew you couldn't stay away."

"Flattering yourself will get you nowhere." She tried to keep her arms crossed, but she couldn't hide her amusement.

He changed tactics, and said with more sincerity, "It's good to see you again."

"What are you doing here?" she asked, "Don't you have some big company to run? Will your dad give you the boot if he finds out you're messing around out here?"

Zane shook his head, smiling all the wider. "Gramps didn't get along with my dad so well when he was alive. Left me a huge trust. All I have to do is figure out what I want to do with it. I've got a year to do that."

"Wow," she said, only a little sarcastic. "Must be great being able to do whatever you want... _buy_ whatever you want."

"It won't get me everything I want," he said with meaning. Turning more serious he said, "Look, Rikki..."

She knew from his tone what was coming next. He was going to ask her to get back together. Suddenly she wasn't sure that's what she wanted. She thought of Lewis and Cleo—how their dishonesty with each other was making them miserable. Zane thought she was back to being normal—well, normal by her standards. He _did _say there was nothing regular about her, but as far as he knew she no longer grew a tail after getting wet.

She couldn't do it. There was no way she was going to drag him into a relationship with such a big secret between them.

"No," she said, cutting him off. "I know what you're going to say and it's not going to happen."

Zane wasn't one to give up so easily, but he backed down without much of an argument for the time being. "Fine. If that's how you want it." He drove off, leaving Rikki in a whirl of dust. She watched him blaze around the corner, swerve hard, and flip over onto his back.

She ran after him in a panic, shouting his name. "Zane! Zane, are you okay?" She pulled his helmet off, inspecting him for damage. As she bent to get a closer look, he pulled her down and stole a kiss.

"I knew you still liked me," he grinned in triumph.

Outraged, Rikki pushed him away and stormed off.

Emma was right. He couldn't be trusted. The slimy, pompous... She pushed him out of her mind before flashes of his stolen kiss turned her thoughts to be less enraged.

Rikki still went to the track. She watched the bikers run their routes, and race each other. She even found herself feeling disappointment when someone with Zane's same build walked past and pulled his helmet off, but wasn't Zane after all.

She decided what she was doing was fooling herself. If she wasn't planning on getting back together with him there was no reason to keep going there. She took a walk on the pier, instead.

Zane was there, getting his boat ready to go out with Nate.

"Hang on, Nate!" he shouted over the motor. "I'll be just a sec."

She had to admit, she appreciated the fact that he was willing to push everything aside just to get a chance to speak to her. Although he'd have to be crazy to prefer Nate's company over hers—or anyone's for that matter.

Rikki led him a little further away from Nate. "Look, I've been doing some thinking, and..."

"Hey, if you're here to say there's no way we can ever be together, you can spare yourself the trouble."

"Why? Is that what you want?"

"No! Which is why I'd rather you not say it."

"Okay," she took a breath, "well if you want this to work, there's something I have to tell you first. But you have to _promise_ you won't te..."

Nate revved the motor, and a wave of water splashed up, hitting Rikki and Zane. Her panicked expression clued Zane in before she could finish telling him what she'd come to say.

"Help me!" she begged.

Not needing any further explanation, Zane distracted Nate while Rikki made a dive for it.

She swam to Mako, idling in the moon pool, telling herself Zane would come to find her there, and not feeling the least bit anxious about his knowing her secret again.

He didn't make her wait long.

"So... you're a mermaid again."He knelt at the bank of the pool, looking pleased.

"I didn't want to get back together unless you knew," she admitted. "I've seen enough relationships end badly because of secrets." She paused for him to nod in agreement. "But I have to know I can trust you."

"Of course, Rikki." He bent down to kiss her. She was about to resist, and tell him to let her finish what she wanted to say. But once he got close, she couldn't refuse. His kiss was short and sweet; just enough to remind her why she was stupid to try staying away from him. She'd missed him. And it was obvious by the welcome in his kiss that he'd missed her, too.

"I don't want the girls to know, okay?"

"Fine," he smirked. "But I thought you didn't care what other people think."

"I don't. But this is different. Cleo's going through a rough time with Lewis, and I don't want to make it worse for her. She's got enough to deal with."

"Okay! Not a problem. We don't have to tell anyone."

"And this _cannot_ get around to Emma! She'd never leave me alone about it. Always trying to warn me about what a bad guy you are." Rikki tried to hide her smile, but failed miserably. "What did you ever do to her, anyway?"

Zane laughed. "Well, aside from the monster hunt, when I was tracking her down...? Yeah, even before that we don't have such a good history."

"Well, she'll have to get over it before I tell her anything."

"That's not likely."

"Then we don't tell."

Zane shrugged with a gleam of mischief in his eye. "Suits me just fine."

Rikki grinned back, but she wasn't all smiles over Emma's attitude. Rikki understood that Emma was naturally more cautious, and used to taking care of Elliot, which gave her a motherly edge. But sometimes she was just plain wrong, and that was almost always where boys were concerned. She kept telling Cleo she'd done the right thing in dumping Lewis, too. Apparently, their mermaid situation was _way_ too complicated for guys to enter the picture at all.

Rikki wasn't convinced. She saw how unhappy Cleo was. It didn't take a genius to see Lewis wasn't doing so great either. Emma could say what she wanted about it, but things had only grown more complicated since everyone had split up. If it _was_ the right thing to do, Rikki and Cleo would have been happier for deciding to break up with Zane and Lewis. But they weren't. And now that she and Zane were back together, Rikki _was_ happier. Much happier.

Zane cared about her—watched out for her. Lewis had always been around to help the girls collectively with their mermaid problems, but it was something else to have a person totally concentrated on _Rikki_. Sure, she was good at taking care of herself, but she was starting to see that being _fine_ on her own didn't mean being happy.

If only Cleo would get her head on straight and find happiness, too.

* * *

**Final Word(s):** Yes, I jumped straight to the get-back-togetherness. I have NO shame! And certainly no regrets! I think all the angst and gloom and breaking up was a huge mistake for the second season. I watch H2O for the happiness and magic! So that's how I'm fixing things. Again, if you want angst this is not the fic for you. You'll have to wait a while for my dark side H2O story to be written...

This story _will_ continue to focus on Lewis and Cleo, but it wouldn't be a proper H2O fic if it didn't involve the goings-on of the best friends. And I do so love it when the whole gang is together. :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Notes:**

Secrets, secrets are no fun.  
Secrets, secrets hurt someone.

:P

* * *

**iv**

Cleo missed Lewis terribly. He had made himself scarce since their breakup, but lately he was even more dodgy and distracted than before. The few times she saw him between classes he seemed like he was working out some huge problem in his head; like when he was on the verge of discovery and absorbed in scientific research. It could have been the stress of their impending graduation, but it was more than that. He didn't fish anymore. He didn't take trips to Mako. He avoided the JuiceNet at all costs. It was like he was frightened of something. If she hadn't known better, Cleo would have said it was Charlotte.

But they were approaching the next full moon and she wasn't about to endure it without him. She cornered him after school, barely catching him before he'd managed to slink away.

"Charlotte's been poking around a lot. I was wondering if you knew something about her."

"Not really." He tried to act casual, but Cleo could see he wouldn't look her straight in the eye, and he kept his shoulders hunched and defensive.

"Is... everything okay?"

"Yeah! I'm fine. Just fine. Look, I really gotta go..."

She stepped in his way and cut him off. "What about tonight?"

He glanced up. "What's tonight?"

"Full moon. We're discussing safety precautions. You said you'd be there! You promised!"

"I... look, I'm sorry Cleo, but some stuff has come up and I can't keep that promise."

"What stuff? Lewis, you can't let us deal with this all by ourselves this time. Just because things have been weird between us doesn't mean you should skip out on Rikki and Emma. They're your friends too."

"I know, I know, but… Won't there be… well, you know, water?"

"Lewis…" Cleo half-smiled at him, wondering if he was trying to be funny. "This isn't our first full moon. I think we know how to be careful."

"Then what do you need me for?"

"You've always been there for us and I thought... well, it's just not the same without you." She frowned, realising this was probably her own fault for wanting space. "But I guess you haven't _always _been there. As a matter of fact, where were you the last time?"

"I was on Mako Island and I… I must have lost track of time."

"For the whole night?" She narrowed her eyes, trying to work out the puzzle in his words. "It's like you're not yourself anymore. You _always_ want to be there during a full moon, even when we try to send you off."

"Well, this time it's different. I have to finish my paper on the effects water pollution has on skeletal anomalies."

"That paper's been done for days. I heard you telling Emma you'd finished it. What's going on, Lewis? I... _we_... really miss you."

He seemed to think it over for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, Cleo. I'm sure you'll be fine. You and the girls can survive one full moon without me."

"Two," Cleo said. "This would be the second."

"Right, well, see you later!"

Cleo watched him walk away with his head lowered, now worried more for him than the impending dangers of a full moon.

-x-

The girls were in Cleo's room, priding themselves on the barricades for the windows and doors when the doorbell rang.

Cleo ran to answer it and nearly tripped over a pile of Kim's clothes on the bottom staircase. She almost shouted at her before realising she was gone with their dad for the night, and she still had her mouth hanging in surprise when she opened the door to see Lewis standing outside.

He twisted his hands nervously. He looked much like he had on Mako, after the girls had lost control of their powers. Cleo shook the thought out her mind before it threatened to show on her face, pretending to be cheerful. "Lewis! Hi! What's... going on?"

"I need to talk to you. I know I've been weird lately, and like you said, not myself. But you need to know something. I can't keep this from you any longer."

"Okaaaay… what is it?"

"Come on." Lewis grabbed her hand, not giving it a second thought and dragged her up the stairs.

Emma and Rikki glanced up from a magazine at their sudden entrance. Rikki looked from their joined hands and back up to Lewis. "Hey, if you guys need some privacy, no one's using the closet."

Cleo gave a warning, "Rikki!" but said nothing else. She did, however, release Lewis's hand shyly.

"You're all here," he said. "I guess that's good. Only have to explain it once, then."

"What's he going on about?" Rikki asked impatiently.

"I don't know," Cleo shrugged. "He says he has to show me something."

"I do. And you're really not going to believe this unless you see it with your own eyes." He paused, making sure the door was closed and he had their full attention. "Someone splash me."

"What?" Cleo asked. Rikki looked at Emma, clearly convinced Lewis had lost his mind. "Lewis, if you're bored, there are better things to do with your time. Run in the sprinkler or something."

"Just… do it." After more blank stares he waved his arms in frustration, "Well, come on!"

Rikki shrugged and dipped an empty cup into Cleo's fish tank. With a flick of her wrist she'd splashed the contents of it into Lewis's face.

Sputtering slightly and whinging over Rikki's methods, Lewis held up ten digits. He made it down to five. The two girls exchanged skeptical glances, and Rikki an eye roll.

His fingers made it down to three.

Then two.

One.

As he brought the last digit down, Lewis as he was a moment ago vanished from sight. He flopped to the floor. Open-mouthed, the three girls peered over the end of the bed. Water dripped from his hair onto his naked chest. And he had a tail. A tail just as the girls had, but with a slightly more vivid, blue colouration.

He did not look happy.

"Lewis!" Cleo cried.

"Not gonna lie," Rikki said, one eyebrow raised. "That is really weird. Congratulations, Lewis! You're officially a freak."

Emma still had her mouth open.

Cleo began to question him. "How did this happen? And when?"

"On Mako, the last full moon," he replied, staring at his tail like he could glare it away. "I wasn't paying attention and I fell into the moon pool."

"So there _are_ mermen. I always wondered about that," said Rikki, arms crossed out of habit. "Now maybe you won't whinge so much about hair samples and toenail clippings. You can just take them from yourself."

"Aren't you forgetting something?" Emma finally spoke. "Who's going to help us now that Lewis is a mer… a… mer—thing."

"Just say it," Rikki scoffed. "He's a merman."

"Whatever! He still can't help us! He's the only one who knows our secret and he's rendered useless. _This_ is a problem."

"Really? 'The only one!' And what is Zane, then?" Rikki retorted.

"Zane's not supposed to know about us. I thought you were going to stay away from him. What did you say?"

"I didn't _say_ anything! I told you, I almost got caught in public, and he helped me get out of it."

"Well, he's still not trustworthy. It's not like he's going to drop everything to help us out with our fish problems."

"Oh, trustworthy." Rikki nodded sarcastically. "Right. Kind of like how Lewis has been lately? Disappearing randomly, just when we need him most? _Real_ trustworthy. Zane's already helped us more than once. You're just too narrow-minded to accept it."

"Narrow-minded, is it? At least I'm not disloyal! I thought you weren't dating him anymore."

"Who said anything about dating? And if this is how you're going to act, why should I tell you anything about my relationships anyway?"

"You think that a couple of favours and a fancy present or two will erase the fact that he was _hunting_ me…"

"Girls, stop it!" Cleo was momentarily distracted from staring at Lewis's condition. "Emma's right." Rikki glared at her in horror. "I'm not agreeing with her _all _the way. Only that this _is_ a problem. It's not that Zane hasn't proven himself a good friend, it's just… he's not exactly always… available?"

Lewis piped in. "You're all forgetting something_ kind_ of important. It's my first full moon tonight. Isn't anyone just the teeniest bit concerned about that fact?"

"Lewis… "Cleo began haltingly. "Do you… have any powers?"

He slouched back. "No. The one thing I looked forward to in this situation and I didn't even get any. Not even a little bit of… I dunno… a bubble making power!"

"Maybe you'll figure them out later," Emma offered.

"Well here, let's see," Cleo chirped, pushing the glass of water towards him.

He put his hand out towards it and stretched his fingers.

Nothing.

He tried again, this time with more concentrated effort. The water didn't so much as ripple.

"Well, that was a complete waste of time," he stated.

Cleo hated seeing him so depressed. "Just give it a while. Rikki didn't find her powers right away, either. I'm sure they'll come eventually!"

"If you say so," Lewis sighed.

He was relieved to have his secret shared, but hadn't had the chance to say what he wanted. He would have to wait to get Cleo alone.

At least there wasn't _this_ between them anymore. He joked along with the girls, not even taking offense at Rikki's more biting jabs. He was confident that it wouldn't be long before he and Cleo were back together.

After all, he was really one of them now.


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Notes: **This would have been posted a little earlier... this morning, in fact, but I promised my sister I wouldn't post any chapters before she got to read them, and she vehemently reminded me this morning that she had not yet read this one. So I apologise for hoarding my words so much that your own reading was delayed!

* * *

**v**

"Hey, Lewis," Zane said by way of announcing himself at their table. "I heard you have a tail problem."

"What? Who told...?" Lewis's eyes darted from person to person, but there was one obvious answer. That person was looking particularly interested in the ceiling tiles. "Rikki!"

"What? I was just letting him know that he might have to step in now and then to help us out, since you'll be in the same situation around water."

"Yeah," Zane said as he slid into the booth. "You're not the only one who can fill the hero position, Lewis."

Lewis scowled. "No need to be smug, just because you have a girlfriend who doesn't keep secrets."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Zane raised an eyebrow, faking innocence.

"Oh, please," Emma scoffed. "It's written all over your faces. You two have the same expression as Lewis and Cleo when they were first..." she glanced at the two who were sitting as far away from each other as possible, and avoiding eye contact at all costs. Emma cleared her throat. "Anyway. I can't believe you didn't tell us, Rikki. We're friends. We're supposed to share things."

"You're also supposed to get off my case," Rikki snapped. "If I say there's nothing to share, stop dragging it out."

Cleo could see the conversation was headed in an ugly direction, so she steered it away from conflict. "Hey! What does everyone think of the new Banana Beat Box? I really like it!"

Lewis ducked his head to hide a chuckle. He knew exactly what Cleo was doing. So did the rest of the gang, and although they didn't acknowledge her question, they turned the subject to other matters. Which mostly meant Zane made fun of Lewis for his new predicament.

"So how does it feel to be a fish?" Zane smirked.

"More like a dolphin," he muttered.

"What?" Emma asked. "How do you know?"

"Just trust me on this one. I have very strong reason to believe that we share more characteristics with dolphins than any fish."

Zane narrowed his eyes questioningly and with some horror at Lewis who nodded once in confirmation.

Zane shook his head. "That's just creepy."

Still sore about the subject, he couldn't resist another jab. "Yeah, well you don't need a tail to be creepy."

Rikki glared, and Lewis caught the sight of her hand flexing in the direction of his drink. The cup began to heat and bubble. "Gross." He put his own hand out. "Cut it out, Rikki."

The glass went cool again.

Lewis huffed.

"What did you do!?" Rikki exclaimed.

"What do you mean? I asked you to stop."

"But I didn't! I was still trying to heat it!"

Lewis stared at her, not understanding.

"Lewis, I think you stopped her power," Cleo said in an excited hush.

"That's not possible. There's no reason for me to be able to..." he stopped himself, realising he was wrong. "Except..."

Cleo sat up, looking intently at the cup. "Emma, why don't you freeze Lewis's drink and see if he can stop it?" She did so, and without too much trouble, Lewis prevented his drink from being anything other than a few degrees cooler.

"Okay…"

Cleo bent her fingers slightly and drew a snake-like shape out of the cup. As long as Lewis concentrated, she could get it no further than a tiny bump on the surface.

"I think your power is… stopping power," she grinned.

"Wait. See if he can undo it," Emma suggested. She froze the cup completely and waited on Lewis. A few moments after his hand shot out towards the cup, the juice inside went back to its original state. The other girls tried their powers on it, and each time he was able to bring his juice back to normal.

"That's great, Lewis!" Cleo cried.

"So I'm like… the anti-power or something?"

"It kind of makes sense," Emma said. "You've always been helping us control our powers. Now you can do it in a more concentrated form."

"I wonder if it works for other things, too..." he wondered aloud. "Like... on myself, for instance."

Zane snorted and kept back a chuckle.

"Is that why nothing happened last night? Usually things get pretty crazy during a full moon," Emma mused.

"Nothing except for Cleo getting a peek at the moon and trying to lullaby Lewis into kissing her."

Cleo blushed and mumbled an apology.

Lewis tried to act casual. "Ah, it's okay. I knew it was... just the moon fever. No worries." He noticed Charlotte heading towards their group and so he stood up to go.

"Where are you off to?" Emma shot after him.

"To test some theories!" He waved his goodbye as he practically ran out of the cafe.

Rikki scoffed. "It's sickening how excited he is to say those words."

Cleo shook her head and laughed.

_-x-_

"What I've discovered is fascinating!"

Lewis had been searching all afternoon for someone to share his new discoveries with, and finally gave in to seeking Cleo out at the Sertori's house. She smiled at how easily he slipped back into his old habits; stepping inside just as soon as the door was open and rattling off information before so much as a "hello" was exchanged.

"So, apparently, I can only alter the state of something touched by _your_ magic..." he dipped his head towards the kitchen and front room in case of other listeners, "that is, mermaid magic. So you were right. My power is stopping powers. And if the legends I found are to be believed, during a full moon I can choose _not_ to change when water touches me." He pointed to one of a dozen bullet points he'd taken down in a notebook.

There were so many words scratched out in shorthand... Cleo ignored the writing and asked him straight. "Soooo... during a full moon, you can change back and forth however you please?"

"Well, in theory. We won't know for sure until the next full moon."

Cleo raised her eyebrows but said nothing. She smiled, nodded awkwardly and said, "Well, that's... cool."

He nodded back, equally uncomfortable. "You know, Cleo, I... well, what I mean is..." he shuffled his feet. "I really miss you."

"You do?"

"Yeah! I mean, we used to have all kinds of fun together, and I was thinking, maybe, you know... we could hang out sometime. Unless you think that's a bad idea!"

"No, I think it's a great idea!" She nodded. "You're right! We did have a lot of fun."

"Sure! So... How about...?" he mentioned fishing at one of his favourite spots and gave a vague suggestion of the time and day.

"Sounds great! I mean... sure, why not?"

"I'll talk to you later, then."

"Yeah."

Cleo hated goodbyes. So she hunched her shoulders and gave a slight smile as she waved.

* * *

***starts singing***

So Iiii'm breaaaathin', and aaahm breaaaathin out! I'm waaaide awake, but Iiiiiye can't hear a saaaoound!

Heheh! Zane makes me laugh. :D


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Notes: **

Well! This is a chapter that's a long time in coming! Its end results are the main reason I wrote this little story. But worry not! The tale is by no means finished! I just think it's interesting how it ended up as the sixth chapter, when it was going to be the second or third. I blame Lewis for distracting us with his merman issues. Heheh.

Oh, and if the willy-nilly author's notes are confusing to you, I apologise. I usually don't have anything useful to say so I just quote songs from the show or make random comments. But if I do have something useful to say and I think it might spoil the contents of the chapter, I'll save it for the ending notes. If it's something I think you need to know _before_ reading the chapter, I'll put them first.

* * *

vi

"Ah! Not again!" Rikki jumped back, narrowly avoiding a bad collision with a new employee at the JuiceNet. Though she managed to avoid him, she backed into the bar where her hand landed in a spill.

Emma and Cleo shared a look and nodded to each other in silent understanding.

Cleo got up and started a lively, but ridiculous conversation with the employee about the ingredients in a Mango Freeze. Emma pushed Rikki into the cooler, making sure no one would catch her changing into a mermaid.

When the crisis had been averted, they all met back to finish their drinks.

"That is weird," Cleo said, face scrunched in worry.

"What?" Emma checked to see no one was looking, and stretched out her hand to make her drink colder.

"I _just_ dreamed that happened!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Last night, I dreamed that exact thing happened. You were there," she pointed to Rikki, "And the spill happened, and... you turned into a mermaid. Only I'm not sure it was juice. And I think you were wearing a different top."

"Yeah, it happens sometimes, Cleo." Rikki was still sore about the juice spill. "If people weren't so careless about their drinks..."

Emma sighed. "Are you sure it wasn't _deja vu_?"

"No! It's not like that! What if I'm having like... premonitions? I don't know if I can deal with that extra pressure!" Cleo pursed her lips seriously as she stirred her frozen juice for the fiftieth time.

"Cleo, it was just a couple of bizarre dreams! It happens sometimes. You're going to be fine." Emma turned to Lewis as he walked by their booth. "Lewis, come here and tell Cleo she's being ridiculous."

"Me?" he seemed to consider it for a second, and then set his bag down to sit by Emma. "Why, what's wrong, Cleo?"

She sighed. "I am _not_ making this stuff up! Something weird is happening! A couple days ago, I dreamed I would bump into my cabinet—I did! And it hurt like crazy. Then the other night I dreamed Emma would lose something important, and _she_ misplaced her locket! And now this...! Do you guys really want to leave it up to chance? I'm telling you, my dreams are coming true, and I don't like it."

"Maybe it's... you know," his voice dropped to a whisper, "a mermaid thing."

"But why me? And why all of a sudden? I never dreamed about the future before."

Lewis shrugged. "Dunno. Have you eaten anything weird lately? Cut yourself on strange coral? Hey!" He grew eager, "Do you reckon _I _might start to see the future?"

Cleo only frowned at him, closer to crying than laughing. Lewis softened. "I'm sorry. Are you going to be okay?" He decided this was another setback to discussing their relationship.

"I don't know. Maybe the girls are right. Maybe they'll go away in a night or two."

But the nightmares did not go away. Cleo was beginning to wonder if so many mishaps normally happened to her and her friends, or if it only seemed that way now that she was dreaming about them first. Luckily, nothing too horrible was haunting her nightmares.

Until she dreamed about Lewis.

The dream was so vivid, so real, that she woke from it in a cold sweat. Barely conscious, she groped for her phone and pushed the first speed dial.

No one answered.

"Please, Lewis!" she begged, clutching her blanket anxiously. "Please pick up!"

Still, there was no answer. She rang again. And again. She was about to jump out of bed and run down to his house to search for him, but on the third call, he picked up.

A groggy voice came over the other end. "Hello?"

Cleo burst into tears, overwhelmed by the sound of his voice. "Lewis?"

"Cleo? Cleo, what's wrong? Are you okay? Where are you?"

"At... h...home! You're not near water, are you?"

"No, I was sleeping, I... hang on. I'll be right over, okay?"

She nodded, then remembering he couldn't hear, hiccupped out a "yes."

He arrived at their yard where Cleo was pacing, immediately taking her by the shoulders. "Are you okay?"

She nodded tearfully, but at his worried expression she began to cry again. Lewis pulled her to him, and let her wrap her arms around him for comfort.

"Hey... hey, I'm here. It's okay. I've got you, now. What is it? What happened?"

"I thought you were hurt!" she sobbed, "Or... or worse. You didn't pick up your phone, and I thought..."

"I've just been sleeping. What made you think I was hurt?"

"These dreams... I had another one, but you were in it. You went down to the marina and... something pulled you under. It was _horrible_, Lewis! It was dark, and cold, and you couldn't breathe... I thought..." she cried even harder and buried her face in his shirt.

It was a good thing tears didn't make them change, because Lewis was sure there was enough liquid pouring out of her eyes to fill a bucket.

"It's okay, now! I'm not drowning or... or trapped underwater, or anything. I'm fine!"

"Lewis..." she sniffled, and he hugged her a little tighter, hoping to make it okay. "I have to tell you something."

"What's that?"

"What I said before... about why we broke up. It isn't true."

Lewis sighed. "Why? Because I'm finally one of you, now?"

"No, that's not it at all. It doesn't matter whether you had a tail or not, or powers, or anything else; you've always been there for me—understood me," she sniffled. "I was the one who let you down. But it's not about that, Lewis. I... I was afraid I'd hurt you with my powers. I thought that what happened on Mako might happen again, and I didn't want to lose you."

"So..." Lewis took the time to process what she was saying. "This isn't about being a mermaid with a boring human boyfriend?"

"There's nothing boring about you," she smiled sadly. "I just... didn't want you to get hurt. But you were anyway. Because of me." She hid her face in her hands.

"Cleo, if I want to be with you, that's my choice as much as yours. I think you need to accept that I find you worth the risk," he said, pushing some of her wild hair behind her ear.

"I didn't think about it like that. I was worried that… you might..."

"Cleo," he cut her off with a small smile. "Stop talking."

He took her sad little face in his hands and kissed her as he'd wanted to do for what seemed like ages now. Her lips melded perfectly with his, and he smiled at the taste of them; salty, like the ocean, and something hard to identify; the magic that couldn't be analysed or quantified by science.

As they broke apart, Cleo raised her head and said decidedly, "I don't _ever_ want to break up again! Alright?"

Lewis nodded, "I... I think I can get on board with that." Cleo was still finding it hard to smile, so he gave her hand a tug. "Come on. I know exactly what you need to cheer up."

She grew confused when he led her to the canal. "What are you doing?"

"Going for a swim!"

"Right now?" She glanced back at the house, but Lewis knew she'd be happier once under the water.

"Why not? I want to see if you're still a faster swimmer than me, now that the odds are a _bit_ more even." He raised an eyebrow at her as a challenge.

Cleo giggled, considering what she was about to do, and what she'd want to say if she was caught coming home. _Sorry, Dad. I was out swimming with Lewis, my _boyfriend_. No, it's okay... he's a merman._

Clutching his hand tightly, she raced to the end of the dock and dove with him into the water.


	7. Chapter 7

vii

There was something eerie about Mako Island at night. The moon pool seemed especially full of mystery and unknown magic. The rock formations made scary shapes, and the flicker of the blue light reflecting from the water was strange more than it was beautiful. But it didn't bother Cleo when she was with someone. And tonight she was with Lewis.

She and Lewis swam straight to the island. Cleo beat him to the moon pool by a hand's breadth, but she could tell by his overly cheerful congratulations that he'd probably let her win, even though he denied it.

"No, you are clearly the stronger merperson," he argued, smirking all the while.

"Whatever!" she splashed at him, "You're just getting used to your tail." She glanced up at the opening of the ancient volcano. She couldn't see the moon, which meant it was later than she thought. "We shouldn't stay too long. Kim might go looking for me and wake Dad."

"In the middle of the night?"

Cleo made a face, telling him not to underestimate Kim's weird habits. "You never know what she's going to do next. I'm more frightened of her than I am of sharks!"

"We'd better head back, then."

Cleo glided through the water with ease, her hair flowing behind her in a dark swirl. She had never been a swimmer, but since the change it was part of the territory, and she'd learned to accept it as a necessary evil. She still wasn't as fond of swimming as Emma, who had a shelf of pre-mermaid swim trophies, or Rikki, who loved any activity that showed off her new strengths, but she did like the tranquillity of the deeper parts of the ocean, and the rays of colourful fish that sped past her vision. So long as they were friendly, and not interested in nipping or stinging her.

They were nearing the shark mating grounds. Cleo always swam with caution when forced to pass through. She could have gone around, but in her enjoyment of the night view, she'd forgotten to go a different way. She turned around to warn Lewis, but he was already in the thick of it before she could catch him. He was obviously determined to come in first this time.

Thinking it might be means to a shortcut, Lewis swam between two large rock formations but failed to twist his tail out of the way to fit it between. It stopped him short to have his tail caught.

At first, Cleo was tempted to laugh as best she could underwater. Until she saw the swarm of sharks that began circling Lewis who was steadily growing more concerned.

Cleo was paralysed with fear. Her nightmare was coming true. Not in the same way she'd dreamed it... but none of that mattered with Lewis in danger. Her first instinct was to swim for help, but she knew it could be too late by the time she got Rikki and Emma. Besides, what could they do that she couldn't? She had powers! She held out her hand, testing the reaction to the water around her. She hadn't done this since Lewis had been hurt. Maybe she could use them again... just this once, since he was in trouble.

Her hand shot out, and a sudden force of water sent the sharks scattering.

_-x-_

"Cleo! That was amazing!"

Back on land, and dry for the most part, Lewis was having trouble keeping his voice down. "I thought I was done for, but then you just..." he imitated her movements with his hand, "And _whoosh!_ I've never seen anything like it! Did I ever tell you you're amazing?"

Cleo ducked her head with a small smile. "I only did it because you were in danger. Did you see how much the water moved? It was _so_ scary. I'm still not ready for these extra powers."

"What are you talking about? You were perfect! If you hadn't been there, I'd be shark chum by now. You saved me!"

She tilted her head at this new perspective. "I did, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did! Cleo, your powers can be a good thing. You don't have to hide, just learn how to control them." He frowned. "Makes me wish I could do something."

"You can! You can stop us from going crazy."

"Yeah, but I did that before."

"And that's what I like about you. It's what makes you Lewis," she smiled. "Have you found out anymore about what you can stop?"

He returned her smile. "No, most of it I have to test during a full moon. But I'll be too busy to worry about powers for a while."

"Busy with what?"

"Spending time with you," he smiled hopefully, allowing her the chance to say no.

She didn't take it.

Cleo knew she was being a hypocrite. If she had a right to whinge about his clinging to her, she became ten times as bad. Lewis couldn't go anywhere without Cleo finding out—and following. She took a new interest in things she hardly cared about before, like what made the best fishing bait, and how his homemade weather tracer worked. She explained every aspect of mermaid life with him, excited to share her secret in more ways than ever. They studied together—even for classes Cleo didn't take. And when the academia became too much for her distracted nature, she'd scurry away to the kitchen and make him lunch on a tray, so he wouldn't have to break from his work to eat.

Lewis didn't mind the extra attention. If he felt any smugness in their sudden reversal, he was smart enough not to mention it. He thought she was adorable, going through so much trouble just for him, and he got her to admit life was more enjoyable as a team.

There were those who were less enthused about their renewed relationship.

At the JuiceNet, Emma was trying her best to convey her frustration over an "arrogant, pig-headed horse instructor," and for ten minutes, Lewis had been drawing hearts in a spill of salt, while Cleo watched and giggled.

"Cleo... Lewis, are either of you paying _any_ attention?" Emma huffed.

Lewis's head turned some, but his eyes still didn't drift from Cleo. "Hm?"

"Have you heard a single word I've said?"

Lewis gave a blank stare for a moment, pursed his lips, then shaking his head slightly said, "Nope."

"You are _unbelievable_!" Emma whinged. "You haven't heard me for the past five minutes! I can't believe you two. Just because you're back together doesn't meant the rest of the world went on a holiday. I've got stuff to deal with too, you know!"

"Yeah, like not having a boyfriend," Rikki said, just entering the cafe and wearing a huge grin. She obviously had been out with Zane again. "Face it, Em. You're kind of jealous."

"Jealous," she rolled her eyes. "Really? Of Lewis and Cleo?"

"You feel left out, now that you're the only one without a sweetie," Rikki raised her eyebrows in challenge.

"Rikki... what do you mean by 'only one?' That means... I knew it! You _are_ dating Zane!"

Realising her mistake too late, she tried to take it back. "No! No, what I meant was... by 'only one' I meant..." She sighed. "Alright, fine. Yes, Zane and I are dating. Happy?"

"No! As a matter of fact, I'm not! Rikki, I thought we agreed that it's way too dangerous..."

"Dangerous for who?" she scowled. "Look, I'm sorry if being happy is such a dangerous concept to you! This is why I didn't want to tell you in the first place!"

"Girls, please," Cleo begged. "Can we not fight right now? Emma was trying to tell us something."

"Yeah, okay fine. What is this about?"

"A... guy, I think," Cleo shrugged.

"Oh, really?" she said mischievously.

"No. It's not like that," Emma said. "He thinks he's got all the answers, and he treats me like I don't know anything about horses."

Rikki shared a look with Cleo. "But... you don't."

"So? I'm a client, and he should treat me better! He makes me so mad!"

"Yeah, but is he cute?" Cleo pressed.

"You guys are impossible."

Rikki and Cleo were still giggling when Emma stormed off.

* * *

**Author's Notes:**

I really don't have much to say at this moment! Except... I love Lewis and Cleo being a couple. :) That's all.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Apologies:** I am _so_ sorry, you guys! I could use the excuse that I got home late and the internet was down last night, so I never posted; but honestly, I just plain forgot! I'M SORRY!

The events begun in this chapter continue on for the next two. So this is kind of like part one of three.

* * *

viii

Emma turned over in her sleep and felt something dry and sharp tickle her cheek. She batted it away as she came to, realising it was straw.

Straw... hay... her nose itched with the smell of horses and alfalfa. She sat up, shaking some bits of straw from her hair. Rebel snorted, but it was not close to her ear or a laboured pant as it had been through the night.

Had she really slept in the stables the entire night? She remembered racing here with a home remedy, Ash brushing her aside, and then sneaking in to cool Rebel down with her powers.

But how had she managed to...?

With a start, she realised she created snow! It was limited to a small area, and only soft drifts, but she made _snow._ And more immediately important, it looked like she'd cured Rebel.

Emma stood up, happily surprised to see the horse looking back to his normal self.

Heavy steps could be heard, coming towards the stall. Emma looked for a way to escape, but decided to accept Ash's attitude since there was nowhere to run.

Ash let himself in, blinking in surprise to see Emma already there, and a healthy Rebel beside her.

"Morning!" she greeted cheerily, if not a little smug.

"I... his temperature's gone down! He's alright!" he cried, examining the perfectly happy horse. As he planted a kiss on Rebel's nose and rubbed him affectionately, he asked, "What did you do?"

"Just a little magic," she beamed.

He took her words as sarcasm and asked no more.

-x-

Ash couldn't get his head around it.

He had taken Emma on a date; they saw a movie and had dinner, and she said she'd had fun; even seemed excited at the idea of another one. But now she was avoiding him. Running off with the girls at a moment's notice, and not giving him any answers or indication of wanting to see him again.

He tried to catch her at the end of her shift, running in front of her before she could escape to the back. "I was thinking about tonight," he said up front, not wanting her to have any way to avoid it this time.

"What about tonight?" she said disinterestedly.

"Uh, how about you, me, and Italian food?"

"No." It was a cold let-down, but not a confident one.

He side-stepped to prevent her walking away. "You, me, and Greek food?"

"Definitely not tonight. My parents are away and I have a paper to write."

"You, me, and... anything," he said, grabbing her hand as she made it past him.

"I gotta get changed," she cut him off with a short sigh.

Rikki and Cleo cornered him as he was bussing tables outside.

"Is it me?" he asked them in exasperation.

"No," Rikki said. "Look, we're going to tell you this because you desperately need our help."

He scoffed. "With _Emma_? I don't think so."

"Yeah, you do!" Cleo nodded with Rikki. "You like her, she likes you, but... you can't even get her out on a date."

"And that's pathetic," Rikki said.

He looked offended. "Well, all right smart guys, what do I do?"

"First of all, do not listen to her. She has _no _idea what's good for her."

"Really? Because I thought I was being too pushy."

"You're not being pushy enough!" Cleo disagreed.

He looked wary.

"What Cleo's saying is... be bold. Is that simple enough for you?"

He was about to ask for more explanation, but Emma came out looking for the girls. "Ready?"

They nodded in unison, sharing knowing looks with Ash. "Yeah." "We're ready."

They weren't thinking he would take their words to heart so quickly.

_-x-_

It was another night of the full moon.

Lewis was nowhere to be found yet. Cleo had last seen him that afternoon, and he'd been intent on finishing some invention that was meant to detect the presence of moonlight in a room. He showed up just as the girls had finished taping up the windows and locking everything they could think of that might let moonlight in.

"Hey, need any help?"

"Now that everything's done," Rikki teased.

Lewis had been asking out of politeness, but what he really wanted was to show off his contraption. "Okay, guys! If my calculations are correct, this machine can tell us exactly where our problem spots are."

"But only after moonlight breaks through," Emma said. "Not really helpful."

"True! But you're not affected by moon_light_, just looking at the full moon!"

"Well, should we test it upstairs?" Emma's family was out of town that weekend, and she'd faked a temperature to get out of going camping with them. "I don't think there's anything in here that'll let moonlight in.

"Sure!"

The four of them headed upstairs with Cleo trailing behind. She stopped to tie her shoelace that had come undone and was the only one to hear the soft knock on Emma's front door. Curious, she opened the door just a bit to see Ash standing there with a large picnic basket over his arm and a platter in his hand.

"Hey!" he greeted her in an undertone. "Could you take this for me?"

She opened her mouth to send him off and tell him it was a really bad time, but the silver platter was already in her hand. She glanced down in annoyance and spied the moon's reflection on its surface. She bit her lip as her expression turned gleeful.

It was so beautiful; the moon. So silvery, and light, and inviting, like Mako Island. It called to her. Called her to Mako. She should be there now, letting the soft ripples of the moon pool touch her skin the way Lewis caressed her arm comfortingly when she was upset.

Lewis should come with her.

"Hey, just set that over there for me, okay?" Ash directed her to the table, disrupting her view of the beautiful moon. She didn't remember where she put the tray, but first thing she knew she was walking up the stairs to find Lewis.

He was proudly admiring the set up of his machine with Emma and Rikki as an audience. Rikki looked dreadfully bored, and Emma slightly more curious. Lewis turned around at the sound of Cleo entering the room.

"Hi, guys!" she grinned, her voice lower than usual.

"Hey, where were you?" Emma accused, "It's almost time! We're supposed to stick together."

"Uh..." Rikki noticed the glazed look in Cleo's eyes and the way she ignored them both to stride towards Lewis. "I think it's too late. I'm pretty sure the moon got her."

"What?!" Emma shrieked. "We boarded up every crack and cranny! How did she...?"

Cleo stifled a giggle. "Ash brought spaghetti."

"_Ash? _What is he doing here?" Emma asked. She went downstairs while Rikki seemed hesitant about whether or not to follow her.

Cleo gained on Lewis with a gleam in her eye. "We should be alone, Lewis. On Mako."

He swallowed and stuttered, "I... wouldn't mind that."

"Lewis!" Rikki cried, "You're not helping!"

"Right! Sorry. We... shouldn't do that. Totally irresponsible."

"I'm going to go see if Em is okay. You watch Cleo. Keep her inside."

"Sure!" his voice cracked.

"Are you _sure_ you can handle it?"

"Yeah, of course! It's just... Cleo."

"Just Cleo in a moon fever," Rikki snorted.

Cleo didn't even notice when Rikki walked right by her. She only had eyes for Lewis. He might have found it a positive development, if it wasn't for the fact that he couldn't tell if she wanted to kiss him, or eat him alive.

"Now, Cleo, let's talk about this... talking is good!" he said this as he backed away, cautiously.

"I want to swim!" she pouted, still coming towards him. "I want to swim with you! We're happier in the water."

"No. No swimming right now. What about...?"

He took another step back and found himself in Emma's closet. Cleo quickly shut the doors on him and used her scarf to wrap around the knobs to lock him in. "Don't worry, Lewis," she soothed, "I'll be back for you soon! We're all going swimming together on Mako!"

"Cleo, this is a terrible mistake!" his muffled cry came from inside the closet.

She only giggled and scurried after the girls.

_-x-_

Rikki and Emma had discovered that Ash brought an entire pasta dinner, complete with breadsticks and cold drinks. Though Rikki was impressed as well as amused, Emma was hardly in the mood to be obliging. Rikki told her to stop being a stress head and that she and Lewis could deal with Cleo.

"Emma! Rikki!" Cleo squealed from the middle of the stairway, "Come with _meee_! I want to show you something!"

"I'll go," Rikki said. Emma tried to follow anyway, but Rikki waved her aside. "I _insist._ Enjoy your dinner, talk to Ash!"

"Where's Lewis?" she asked, once Cleo had her back upstairs.

"Somewhere safe," she nodded seriously.

"Okay, you've officially lost it. We're going to go in the bedroom now and find something quiet to do."

Cleo was in a daze, dreaming about how cool and smooth the surface of the moon felt on the platter. "I touched the moon," she laughed.

"Right. That's it. In you go," Rikki nudged her into Emma's room.

"Hey! Rikki!" Lewis called from the closet. "Can you get me out of here, please?"

"You locked him in the closet?!" Rikki chuckled, "Oh, this is great! No, I think that's a good place for you, Lewis."

"Seriously, Rikki..."

"No, seriously! I think you'll be the most use to us in there."

Lewis argued about the right and wrong times for her sarcasm, but Cleo wouldn't let Rikki go near the closet. "I'm waiting," she whispered to her, "He doesn't know yet."

"Know what?"

Cleo went to the window, and without warning brought an entire panel of cardboard down. The moon was fully visible from that angle, and as Rikki had her eye on Cleo, she caught a glimpse of it immediately.

"Cleo, don't...!" she stopped mid-sentence and began to laugh with Cleo. "Let's get Emma!"

Lewis could tell something wasn't right when Rikki began to giggle excitedly. "Oh no! Girls... Rikki, what's going on?"

"Just stay put, Lewis!" she called, "Cleo will come for you when we're done with Emma."

He could hear the scurry of their feet as they left him alone.

"That is not comforting," he said aloud. But no one answered back.


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note:**

Whoa! I can't believe I almost forgot to post _again! _I need to start keeping better track of things! Also, I lied last time. I thought this "moon fever" segment would be in three parts, but it's just the two. Turns out, it wasn't breaking up into smaller pieces as well as I thought. So enjoy this rather lengthy, rather late update! :)

* * *

ix

Emma did her best to keep her mind on the feast set in front of her, but every thought in her head was screaming that they had a situation upstairs and she needed to help make it right.

Ash was more than attentive. He refilled her glass, offered her seconds, and asked her multiple times if everything was okay. Apparently, her nervous glances towards the stairway weren't kept to a minimum like she thought.

"No, it's great, Ash. Everything is delicious, I just..."

"Are you mad at me? Is it something I said?"

"No! Look, I really appreciate all this, but I have the girls over right now, and I'm not sure they're okay without me."

"See, that's what I don't get. You said you have homework, but you invite the girls over. Seems you're not that busy, but you won't go out with me. Do you like me or not?"

"I do! I do, Ash. It's... complicated."

"It doesn't have to be! If you don't want me here, I'll go home. I'll pack up dessert and won't bother you again. Is that what you want?"

"Just... ugh! I wish I could explain."

"Why can't you?"

"There are things going on in my life... I can't just talk about them."

"You don't trust me." It came as a statement, not a question.

"That's not it."

"Trust him!" came a squeal from behind her. Emma turned around in her chair to see Rikki and Cleo shoulder to shoulder, watching from around the corner. The surprising thing was that the high pitched squeal came from Rikki, and not Cleo.

"He'll understand!" Cleo seconded, "Tell him who you _really_ are!"

"What are they talking about?" Ash questioned.

"Nothing. Uh, will you excuse me for a second?"

"Cleo put Lewis in the closet!" Rikki announced loudly.

"Wait." Ash set the water pitcher down with a little too much force. "_Lewis_ is here?!"

"It's not what you think!" Emma marched towards the girls, causing them to shriek with delight as they fled upstairs once again.

"What is going _on?"_ Ash begged.

"Just wait right there, I'll be down to explain in a minute."

-x-

"What have you done with Lewis?"

Rikki rolled her eyes, looking a bit more like her normal self. "Who cares about Lewis?"

This got her a punch in the arm from Cleo. "_I_ care."

"Did you say he's in the closet?"

Cleo stood in front of Emma's doorway, looking quite determined. "You're not going in there. He's mine!"

"Whatever. You two are impossible." Emma had a moment of inner conflict. She needed to get downstairs before Ash grew worried and came looking for her, or worse, frustrated beyond reason and went home. Lewis was trapped in the closet, and by the looks of things Cleo would take anyone down who tried to let him out. And the only person left who knew their secret was the last person Emma wanted to involve.

She took a deep breath. Having no other choice, she said, "I'm calling Zane."

Rikki jumped up and down, clapping her hands together. "Yes, call Zane! I'll keep him in the other closet!"

Cleo squealed in agreement, and hugged Rikki from the side.

"No way," Emma said.

"How about, we put _you_ in a closet..." Rikki suggested.

Something in Cleo's expression snapped, and she looked like a wild animal. "Yes, Emma. _You_ could go in the closet."

"What are you... are you girls crazy? Never mind, I know the answer." She took careful steps backwards to ensure she wouldn't trip over something in trying to escape their frightening stares. She meant to make it to the bathroom and lock herself in, but Cleo anticipated her and stepped in the doorway before she could shut them out.

"That's not very nice," Cleo pouted. "We just want what's best for you."

"You're not being honest with Ash," Rikki said. She put her hand on Emma's chest and pushed.

Emma fell backwards, right into a tub full of water. She spluttered, and was stuck. So this was their plan all along. To get her to grow a tail.

"Great," she huffed, and expressed her ire with a flap of her tail. "Zane better get here quick.

"Don't worry, Emma! We'll get Ash!" Cleo cried.

Rikki nodded vehemently and raced her downstairs.

-x-

"In the bathroom?! And you're _sure_ she wants me to follow her up there?"

Rikki and Cleo nodded in unison. "She's waiting," Rikki grinned, "Don't keep her waiting!"

"She might not like you anymore if you take too long," Cleo added.

"You two are acting weird."

"_Trust_ us!" Cleo demanded, and Ash wasn't able to refuse.

Even more peculiar than their excited giggles was the fact that both girls took him by either hand to lead him upstairs. He stopped a moment when the doorbell rang, but they pulled him on.

"Someone's at the door."

"It's okay," Cleo said, "this is more important."

Ash could hear someone letting themselves in, and then Zane's voice called out, "Hey, girls! Where are you? Ash?"

"Yeah, I'm up here!"

His hand was on the door knob when Zane caught up to them. "Emma, are you okay in there?"

"No!" she yelled. "I mean... don't come in!"

Ash frowned. "Cleo and Rikki are..."

"Out of their minds," Zane finished. "Ash, get away from the bathroom door."

"Why are _you_ here?" he glared.

"To stop you from doing something you'll regret for a lifetime."

"Zane!" Rikki seemed to finally notice him. She relinquished her hold on Ash's wrist and grabbed Zane's hand, instead. "Are you here to visit Lewis?"

"Oh, no! I'm already well aware of what happened to Lewis."

"What happened to Lewis?" Ash said, more confused than ever.

"Never mind. It would probably be a good idea for you to go downstairs while I sort this out."

"Something is going on that I'm not being told!"

"You think? Way to piece things together, smart guy."

"Well, what is it?"

"Sorry. Not really my secret. That's up to Emma to share."

"Emma wants him to know!" Rikki chirped from Zane's side.

"No, love, I don't think she does; otherwise she would have told him already."

"But _you_ know what it is?" Ash asked bitterly.

"Yeah."

"And Lewis knows?"

Zane scoffed. "Lewis has his own problems; you don't want to get into that." At Ash's frustrated grimace, Zane gave him a sympathetic pat. "Don't worry. I'm sure she'll come around, eventually. Mine did!"

"Your... what?"

"Mer... uh, my lady, of course." He redirected him to the dining room and set him cleaning up the remnants of his surprise dinner.

Zane helped Emma out of the tub as soon as the coast was clear. Through very persuasive measures, he convinced Rikki that it was in her best interest to dry Emma off.

"You might want to go talk to him," Zane said, after Emma was back to normal. "He's pretty down."

"Yeah... Okay."

"Look, I don't mean to butt in; whatever you say to him is your business, but..."

"What?" Emma asked a little too sharply.

"Well, I wouldn't want to deny a great guy the chance to deal with this," he pointed amusedly to Rikki who was still clinging to his arm like it was the secret to all life.

Emma couldn't help a slight chuckle. "Okay. I'll keep that in mind."

"I guess we should get Lewis out of the closet."

"No!" Cleo shrieked. Rikki screamed in echo and chased her into Emma's room.

Cleo undid the scarf she'd locked the closet doors with, threw them open, and dove into a sitting Lewis's lap.

"You can't leave me!" she cried.

"Whoa! What's going on?"

Zane shrugged. "Dunno. She seems to think it pretty important that you stay locked in that closet."

Lewis looked down at the mass of hair that had entirely covered Cleo's face and most of his lap. He shrugged at Zane who was batting Rikki's hands away from his hair. "Moon fever."

"Yeah. So... not that this isn't cute, but what do we do now?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's the cure for moon fever?"

Lewis laughed out loud. "Oh, there's no cure! Best you can do is wait around for the effects to wear off." He nodded towards the broken cardboard barrier that let the moon shine through. "That explains Rikki catching it, too. Cleo must have tricked her into looking at it. But why...?"

Zane coughed when Lewis took several moments to stare at the moon without saying a word. "Hey, what were you saying?"

"I... don't feel any different."

Zane raised an eyebrow. "Should you?"

"Well, the moon usually... that's interesting."

"Yeah, whatever, science geek. You coming out of there?"

"Yep!" Lewis shifted to encourage Cleo's removal, only to find that in the past minute of conversation, she'd fallen fast asleep. He smiled while shaking his head. "Guess I'll be here a while longer."

"Suit yourself."

"Say," Lewis said, "could you bring me something to eat? I skipped dinner."

"Seriously? Should I bring you a pillow, too?"

"As a matter of fact..."

"Forget it!" Zane scoffed.

But despite his protests, he brought Lewis a plate of warmed spaghetti, _and_ a pillow, which Lewis used to place under Cleo's head. Zane rolled his eyes, but didn't comment. "Here, I brought you a juice, too." He tossed a can and Lewis caught it before it could risk hitting Cleo.

"Zane!" he hissed. "What are you doing?" The condensation moistened his hands. "If I grow a tail, and Cleo wakes up because of it..."

"She'll get over it."

Lewis could feel the magic start to work through his legs. The sensation was like bubbles popping all over his skin. It was _easy _to let it go; to let the magic take its toll and turn. But more than anything, he did not want to grow a tail with Cleo on his lap. Not when she was finally sleeping off her moon fever.

Just as he was resigned to the fact that there was nothing he could do, he realised that more than ten seconds had passed and he still had not morphed.

"Huh." He smiled and murmured softly, "I guess I _can_ choose to keep my legs."

Zane turned to Rikki who had remained no further than a foot away from him the entire time. "Come on, Rikki. Let's make you a bed on the couch."

_-x-_

"Look. I get it. Whatever it is, you're not ready to share. That's fine. Just let me know when you are."

Ash had cleared away all the dirty dishes and stored everything left over from his surprise dinner. Emma was persistent in not letting him leave while in such a frustrated state.

"Wait. Ash." She stopped his hand from placing the sundaes in the cooler. "I... I think I can tell you."

She leaned close, bringing her face very near to his. Maybe if she just concentrated on _him_; how much she really did like him and didn't want him to leave her... it would be easier to... she bounced on her tiptoes to plant a kiss on his mouth.

He softened at her kiss. "You know that's not going to solve all our problems."

"It was worth a shot," she smirked.

"You know you can trust me," he murmured.

"Yeah... okay. Well, I know this is going to sound crazy, but... I can't look at the moon."

"What? Is that why all the windows are boarded up?"

"Yeah, it's..."

"A phobia?"

"Sort of. Look, I want to be honest with you, but it's a really big deal. I don't want to scare you off."

"Whatever it is, Emma, you can tell me! Trust me."

"I think it might be easier if I showed you. But not anywhere near the windows. Um... come with me."

She led him to the front room. It was the furthest place from the windows with the greatest amount of pillows to soften her fall. She took a glass of water from the counter, and touched the surface with her finger. "In ten seconds, something really weird is going to happen which should explain everything."

Ash watched intently, not sure what he should be looking for. He looked at her hand, expecting something to grow on it, or... change colour, maybe?

He never expected for her to grow a shimmering orange tail. But that's exactly what happened.

"Whoa..."

"Don't... freak out!" she held out her hands defensively, "Please!"

He cleared his throat, tried to form words, failed a few times, and finally said, "Uh... so why can't you look at the moon?"

"It makes us crazy. We just get this _need_ to go swimming. And tonight it made Cleo lock Lewis in a closet."

"'_We_...' so, Cleo and Rikki?"

She nodded at his unfinished question. "Yep."

"Were you born with it?"

"No," she couldn't help but chuckle, "we fell into the moon pool at Mako Island. Lewis did, too."

"Lewis!? So... there's four of you! Are there others?"

Emma shrugged and scooted herself futher back against the couch cushions. "Maybe. I don't know. We obviously don't want to make this public."

"I can see why!"

"So..." Emma tried to curl her toes like she did when feeling awkward, which resulted in her fin flapping against the table. "Do you still want to go out with me?"

Ash folded his hands behind his head and sat back, smirking. "Depends."

"Depends on what?"

"Whether or not you'll let me take you out tomorrow."

Emma blushed and pretended not to be charmed by him.

-x-

Cleo blearily opened her eyes. "Lewis?"

"Yep." His voice was perfectly normal; he hadn't slept a wink.

"Where are we?"

"In Emma's closet. Last night got a little bit crazy."

She sat up and rubbed her arm in confusion. "Did... did anything bad happen last night?"

Lewis's legs screamed with stiffness, as did his neck when he tried to move it. He felt like he might never get the kinks out of his sore muscles. Cleo was an active sleeper. When she wasn't digging her head into his legs, or flailing her arms at his face, she'd kept his hands pressed tightly in her grasp.

"No," he smiled, petting her hair. "Nothing bad at all."


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note:**

I can't believe I'm posting Chapter X already! I'm starting to get a bit overwhelmed by all the sub-plots I started, so feel free to let me know if this gets too disjointed and the back-and-forth is confusing, or if I forget to finish a side story. I'll do what I can to fix it!

* * *

x

Charlotte drummed her fingers on the table. She was seething.

"Lewis should like _me_." She hissed under her breath. The JuiceNet—as was usual—buzzed with activity, but Charlotte could only see the blonde head turned in utter concentration to Cleo's wildly gleeful gestures. They seemed absorbed with the topic of the full moon. Cleo kept chirping about "this time," in comparison to "last time," as if the full moon was something significant to look forward to. Whether it was a strange way of marking their anniversary, or simply Lewis's current scientific obsession, Charlotte didn't know and didn't want to.

She just wanted Lewis to stop _caring_ so much about Cleo Sertori.

"Hey, gorgeous." Nate slipped into the seat beside Charlotte. He'd just been severely beat at billiards, which showed all over his sweaty face and clothes. Apparently, that didn't stop him from thinking he was still desirable.

"Ugh," Charlotte said, "Why are you sitting here? I thought you liked Cleo."

"I did... but have you gotten a look at those two, lately?" he nodded to Lewis and Cleo, who were laughing over their drinks. Cleo would point to something in the distance and steal a sip or two from Lewis's glass. Lewis would pretend not to notice, and then do the same to her. They were ridiculous; so happy, and shameless, and dismissive of any mockery towards their nauseating behaviour.

Charlotte wanted to strangle them.

Well, not both of them. Just Cleo, really.

"I _am_ looking, and I..." she was about to completely lose it and show Nate just how close she was to snapping by flying off the handle. But a plan began forming in her mind.

"What if I told you there was a way to get Cleo back?" She had no idea if that was at all possible... except that she would do anything to get Lewis from her, and Nate could do as he pleased after that. The two lovebirds spent so much time on Mako. If they weren't whispering about it, they were making constant trips there and back. Although how they did so _that _often with only Lewis's boat as transportation, she couldn't imagine.

There had to be something about that island that kept them going back, and it wasn't the romance. Well, it could have been, but Rikki and Emma were in on it too. Charlotte determined that if she had to camp out and live there for a month to find out, she would.

"How?"

She'd almost forgotten she asked Nate if he wanted Cleo back, and it took her a moment to collect her thoughts to respond.

"Let me use your boat," she all but demanded.

"What for?"

"I need to test a few theories. I'll bring it back in good shape."

Nate leaned forward and spoke in a conspiratorial whisper. Charlotte cringed away from his breath. "Let me come with you," he said.

"No way."

"Then it looks like you're swimming to wherever you want to get to." He let out an exaggerated sigh. "Hope it's not too far. I hear there's been a lot of shark activity, recently..."

Charlotte glanced Lewis's way. He had just dotted Cleo's nose with whipped cream and was squinting adorably at her. "Fine," she growled. "Let's go."

"Now!?" he screeched, as she grabbed her bag and headed out.

"Yes. Now."

_-x-_

Nate grumbled the whole way to Mako. He grumbled when Charlotte told him to stay in the boat. And he grumbled again, when he followed her and realised that stumbling through Mako Island's excessive foliage, and climbing up and down slippery, rocky inclines required more work than sitting in the boat.

"I _told_ you to stay behind!" she hissed.

"Why? What's so important that you don't want me to see?"

"I don't know, yet! I just... I need to find out."

He grumbled again, but had no choice except to continue on.

It took them ages to get anywhere, being that they stopped so often for Nate to catch his breath, or take a bite from one of many cereal bars stashed in his shorts. It was already growing dark by the time Charlotte felt she'd surveyed a good portion of the island.

She was also hot, and miserable, and being eaten alive by the largest insects she'd ever encountered when Nate had the nerve to insist that her stamina was simply not up to par with his.

"Shut _up_!" she screeched, "You are the most annoying, big-mouthed, _useless_ excuse of a person I have _ever _met!"

"Useless? What's useless is this trip! What are you looking for, anyway? We're supposed to be breaking Cleo and Lewis up, not killing ourselves on some stupid island. The only thing here is a nest full of bugs, and a dozen slippery..."

Charlotte blinked her surprise as Nate disappeared. His wrong-footed turn had caused him to fall through a crevice and down a slope into... she didn't know what.

"Nate!" Less concerned for him, and more concerned about what people would think if it was discovered he had died while questing with her on Mako Island, Charlotte carefully ran to the edge and tried to peer down the slope. "Are you alive?"

"Yeah, I'm alive!" he shouted up at her, "No thanks to you! And I think I found what you're looking for!"

"What?"

"Get down here."

"Not a chance. You think I'm stupid?"

"You are if you don't get down here. You _gotta_ see this!"

Charlotte weighed her options. If he was tricking her... well, he seemed to be all right, so at least she wouldn't be injured from it. And she _was_ getting tired of wandering around the island with nothing to show. If she did get suckered into one of Nate's stupid pranks, she could always take off and leave him there.

She exhaled sharply and slipped into the crevice.

It was a tight squeeze, but she made it through to the end without too much injury to her hips. When she stood up, Nate was gawking at the sight of a shining pool.

It looked like they were in a storybook. The volcanic walls shimmered with blue light, and the waves lapped gently at the sides of the shore. It was odd that there should be so much movement in a pool, but nothing about the place they stood in seemed ordinary.

One thing was for sure; there was no way of going back up the impossible incline they'd fallen down from, and there was no visible escape from the circular cavern.

"Great," Charlotte said. "You're an idiot. How do we get out of here now?"

"I dunno." He was still mesmerised by the pool. "I just thought this looked... important."

"It's an inactive volcano, Nate! And now we're both stuck down here!" The moon hung directly over the opening above them, and though she couldn't explain why, Charlotte was uneasy with the feelings the reflection of the moonlight in the pool gave her. It made her feel like her will wasn't her own... and she was _always_ in control.

"Maybe there's a way to swim under..." Nate suggested.

"Find out."

"Whoa! Excuse me, Queen of Everything! Why do I have to be the one to..." he didn't finish his sentence, being frightened by the look on her face. Muttering under his breath, he slipped off his shoes and his shirt, paused to wiggle his eyebrows at Charlotte who huffed in disgust, and then jumped in.

Bubbles erupted all around him as he rose to the surface.

"Ah! What is this?" he shouted, while Charlotte cried, "What's happening?!"

"As if I would know! What if this kills me?!"

"It won't kill you! I don't think..."

She watched as the water churned around him, taking particular interest in the way his legs were dissolving... the moment she realised what was happening, she dove in, clothing and all.

"What are you doing?" he cried when she came up from under water.

She wasn't looking at him when she answered, but straight ahead, as if picturing something other than the wet walls of rock before her.

"Whatever it takes."

* * *

**Ending Notes:** This turn of events was entirely my Beta's idea, (_Kitty Pimms_) and I think it's a wonderful one that will open up a lot of possibilities for Lewis and Zane to save the day. Every story needs an antagonist, and I really didn't want it to be water. Because water is our friend. :)


	11. Chapter 11

**xi**

Cleo wasn't sure what had just happened, but it was definitely nothing good.

Currently, she was swimming in the deepest, most central part of the dolphin exhibit, trying to keep clear of the visitors' view.

Only an hour ago, she'd been enjoying her day off with Lewis at the park. They were forced to stay clear of the water rides, much to Lewis's disappointment, but they consoled themselves with ice cream from the cart; ice cream Cleo didn't have to serve.

Cleo bit off the end of her mushy cone and shivered.

"Are you okay?" Lewis had already finished his cone, and was only waiting for her to move on.

"Yeah, just a little cold. I left my jacket at home. I forgot how cold I get after eating ice cream."

"I'll go buy you a jacket," he announced, and headed to the nearest gift shop to do so.

"Lewis!" she smiled, shaking her head as he was already out of ear shot. "You don't have to buy me a jacket." But he was halfway there before the words were out of her mouth.

Cleo licked the last drips of sweet cream off her fingers and looked around for a way to clean up. Another down side of the mermaid issue. She couldn't wash her hands without a place to hide the change. And she _hated_ sticky fingers. Cleo sighed.

Someone bumped in to her, just as she thought of going after Lewis.

"Charlotte!" she cried cheerily, "Hi! How's it going? I haven't seen you around much, lately."

"Yeah, you haven't seen much of anything," Charlotte muttered.

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind," she smiled. "Hey, I'm trying to find my mobile, but I can't search my bag with my hands full. Would you hold this for me?" She thrust a water bottle in her direction. Cleo thought it odd that she'd wrapped a towel around part of it. She would have expected something like that from Rikki or Emma, but they had the same mermaid issue that _she_ did. Charlotte did not.

Unfortunately, the part of the bottle that was uncovered and dripping with condensation was the part Charlotte held out to her.

"Uh..."

"What's the matter? It's just a little water." She touched it against Cleo's crossed arms, making her recoil and gasp in shock.

"You act like it's going to attack you, Cleo," she blinked innocently.

Cleo glanced frantically this way and that, but Lewis wasn't back yet from his jaunt to the shop. She let the water bottle drop to the ground, and sprinted to the back of the dolphin exhibit that said "Staff Only," rubbing her hands in her shirt in the hopes she might stop the transformation before it debilitated her.

But she could feel her legs growing wobbly, even as she reached the dolphin tank.

She knew she couldn't change here, either. Trainers would be milling in and out, getting ready for the next show. Seeing no other choice, she dove into the man-made lake just as her legs gave way to a tail.

Much to her horror, Charlotte had followed her the whole way, and now stood over her, arms crossed and smirking.

"What are you doing?!" Cleo cried, "This is staff only?"

"Oh, really? Do you count as staff even though you're not working today? Or do you make exceptions to everything since you're a mermaid?"

Cleo swallowed and shrank back in the water.

"I didn't have to see it to know for myself," she scoffed. "Do you think I'm too stupid to figure it out? After what happened to me on Mako..."

Charlotte reached a claw-like hand towards the water, looking something like an angry parent about to punish their child. The water reacted violently, churning around Cleo like it wanted to push her under in a watery vortex. She tried to thrust it back with her own powers, but she hadn't had reason to use them much of late, and never _against_ the water like it was her enemy.

Charlotte chuckled and brought her hand back. The water gradually settled down and stilled.

"Aw, that's so sad, Cleo. Your powers are so limited and weak compared to mine. Wonder what Lewis will think about that."

"Lewis!" she gasped, wondering if Charlotte knew about _his_ secret, too. Where would he go when he didn't find Cleo waiting for him? Her bag was left there with her mobile inside. He might guess that she'd been hit by water and go looking for her... but not here! If he came here, Charlotte might find out about him, too! Unless she already knew...

"What do you want with Lewis?"

"Oh, not much. Just to inform him of your complete failure to be of any use. I'm sure he knows that, though. Always running around trying to save you. Well, it won't be that way for long. Soon enough, your secret will be out to everyone, and he'll be free of having to keep it. Free to come to me."

Cleo was too stunned to say anything in response. She merely frowned in consternation.

"By the way..." Charlotte leaned in, almost nose to nose with Cleo for a moment, "I don't think someone like you deserves to wear that locket. Best hand it over."

"What do you think you're doing?"

Cleo breathed a huge sigh of relief at the sound of Lewis's voice as she clutched her locket against her chest. Charlotte stood up and her tone became much higher in pitch. "Oh, Cleo had an accident with some water, and I was helping her get away."

"Actually, you threw your drink at me, and then threaten..."

"What are you talking about, silly Cleo? You asked for some water, so I brought it to you."

Lewis was incredulous.

"Don't you _dare_ believe her!" Cleo warned him.

"The thought never crossed my mind." He made a face like eating sour grapes.

"Lewis..." Charlotte seemed hurt. "What's wrong with you? Why wouldn't you believe me?"

"Well," he started, "First of all, because I don't know you, and secondly, I'd take Cleo's word over anyone's. Is that enough reasons, or...?"

Charlotte's face transformed to one of cold indignation. "Isn't it time for the trainers to come get their props for the show? I expect they'll be here any minute."

Cleo shared a worried glance with Lewis.

"Go!" he cried, "Swim deeper! You can't let them see you!"

Cleo hesitated. She _hated_ leaving Lewis there. "Be _careful_," she warned, aiming a significant glare Charlotte's way, and then dove straight down.

And none too soon, as the first dolphin trainer had come around the corner in his wetsuit, and holding a whistle.

"Hey! What are you two doing here?"

Charlotte put on her sweetest act. "Sorry, we were just..."

Lewis didn't even stay to make excuses. He rushed straight towards the ramp leading to the section where he knew the dolphins were on display.

He tried to keep the few interested guests from entering the exhibit by stuttering some nonsense about a dangerous leak, then headed in to see just how bad of a situation he and Cleo had landed in this time. There was no crowd of gawkers at the tank, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

However, one little girl who was being led away by her mum had seen something.

"But _mum!_ I _did_ see a mermaid! She was with the dolphins, and she looked scared!"

"Sweetheart, I'm sure if they had a mermaid show, they'd advertise it."

"But I _saw_ her! She had dark hair, and an orange tail, and when she swam away, the dolphins followed her with flappy tails..."

Lewis smiled awkwardly at them as they passed. Luckily, the mother didn't seem to pay much attention to her daughter as she rattled off an exact description of Cleo in her mermaid state. Cleo was no longer visible from that standpoint, but he knew he had to get her out of there. The longer she stayed, the more likely it would be that someone else would spot her. Someone more credible than a four year old.

Lewis took a notebook and pen from out of his bag and scrawled a message on it backwards, holding it up for Cleo to see as she peered around a man-made rock formation.

**MARBLES**

...was all it said, but Cleo understood.

She nodded quickly and disappeared into the depths.

* * *

**Author's Note: **I am mean, I know. Totally unacceptable to leave you all on a cliffie. It's only three days until Wednesday, though! :) I guess that means I should write fast...


	12. Chapter 12

**xii**

_The sun was warm and pleasant on Cleo's skin as she soaked in the light that shone through the trees shading her picnic. Lewis munched quietly on his third sandwich. Everything was quiet, and peaceful, and perfect. But Cleo was still uneasy._

_"Lewis..." she said seriously._

_"Mm Mm?" he tried with a mouth full of food._

_"I was just thinking... I _know_ I'm just being paranoid, but... what if we're both trapped with tails?"_

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Well... what if a bucket of water falls on me, and I turn into a mermaid, and I'm dripping wet, and you can't drag me somewhere safe because you'll get wet, too?"_

_"I'll just use my shirt to wrap you up before I pull you away."_

_"Oh!" This satisfied her for all of two seconds. "But what if we both run into the same sprinkler and we can't get away fast enough?"_

_"What happens if you and Rikki run into the same sprinkler and can't get away? How is that any different?"_

_"Good point. I guess I'm just used to you being the only one who can always come save me."_

_"I _can_ always save you."_

_She nodded, not _quite_ convinced._

_"Lewis..." she said after a few moments of silence._

_"Yes, Cleo?" he couldn't hide the amusement in his tone._

_"What if I fall into a swimming pool, and I have to swim all the way to the bottom so no one sees me, and I don't know when it's safe to come out? You can't dive in to get me because you'd be stuck too."_

_This made him ponder for a short while. "I could throw in a marble."_

_"What?"_

_"Or anything that'll sink. Just something you'll see so it'll let you know when to come out."_

_"But a marble's so tiny!"_

_He shrugged, not one to be discouraged so easily. "I'll throw in a lot of marbles, then."_

_Cleo sighed happily and snuggled into his shoulder. "Okay. Lots of marbles." She yawned, satisfied at last._

Since then, Lewis had begun to carry marbles with him wherever he went, no matter the distance or length of time he'd be out. He kept them in his book bag, in his pockets, and in drawers here and there at the Sertori's. He even went so far as to give Zane a plant in a vase half full of marbles since Zane had a pool and Cleo was known to attend his parties when she could.

This got him a look of pure bewilderment from Zane, but Lewis told him to accept it as a token of their blossoming friendship.

Zane snorted and rolled his eyes, but he didn't throw it out.

Now Lewis was running with a handful of red marbles to get Cleo out before the dolphin trainers came back.

It worried him that Charlotte had disappeared. Not that he had any particular wish to run into her again, but the fact that he had no idea what she was up to at the moment was rather unsettling.

Though still trembling with worry, Cleo had to smile when she emerged from the bottom of the tank to see Lewis at the edge of the pool, decked in rain gear and wearing long, rubber gloves.

"See?" he said as he pulled her out, able to hold her somewhat close, so long as his face stayed away from her wet hair, "didn't I say I could always save you?"

Cleo nodded. She almost leaned up to kiss his cheek, but remembered just in time that it would put him in the same situation as her. "But where did Charlotte go? And why is she doing this?"

"Wish I knew," Lewis answered. "But for now, we need to get you dry."

Cleo was surprised when he didn't drag her off, but rather scooped her into his arms to carry her somewhere out of the way.

"What?" he said at her wide-eyed expression.

"You can carry me! Isn't my tail a bit... heavy?"

"Oh..." he tried to act like it was nothing. "Not compared to the weights..."

"Lewis!" It was harder than ever not to kiss him, now. "You hate the gym!"

"Yeah, but Zane was boasting about how it was no problem for him to carry Rikki around, and said if I ever had trouble lifting _you_..." he shook his head. "_I_ will do the carrying for you, thank you very much."

Cleo giggled behind her hand. "Hurry up and dry me off. There's something I want to give you."

It took some work, finding a place in the marine park with an outlet for a blow dryer. That was another item Lewis now carried with him at all times, which worried his brothers greatly. He couldn't say he blamed them, but had they known exactly what went through his head each time he used it to dry Cleo's hair, their reactions would have been quite different.

It was a tricky business if he wanted to use his hands—which he did—along with the dryer. He had learned there was a very specific angle and rhythm to keep the blast of hot air with the movement of his free hand in order to dry it before the ten seconds had passed. And if Cleo's happy and off-key humming was any indication, she enjoyed it just as much as he did.

When she'd returned to her normal state, and Lewis rewarded with more than one kiss, there was some question as to whether they should go home or search for Charlotte. Both of them wanted nothing more than to finish their date in peace, but Cleo was afraid of leaving without knowing whether they had truly avoided another disaster or only postponed it.

It was decided that they take one more round of the park; Cleo didn't mention that it would take them past the ice cream cart again, but Lewis knew well enough that was the primary reason she was in favour of staying.

As they came into the cool darkness of the dolphin exhibit, there was Charlotte with her arms crossed in consternation. Beside her was the park director, who she spoke to with some force.

"I'm telling you, she's in here! And you heard the handlers! They saw it, too! She's in there, I know. And when you see what she is..."

"Hey, guys. What's up?" Lewis said right between them, making Charlotte jump.

She was shocked to see Cleo near him; fully dry, and glaring at her with all her might.

"Cleo! Hi! I... was just clearing things up with the manager, here."

Lewis opened his mouth to respond, but the director cut him off.

"Were you the ones in the tank?"

"What?" he scoffed. "Where did you get that idea?"

"A little girl said she saw a mermaid in the dolphin tank, and my trainers saw you two scurrying in the back with a giant tail. Were you the ones goofing off in here?"

"That's ridiculous," Cleo said, but her voice was shaky, "where would we get a tail?"

"Don't lie," Charlotte scowled, "there was more than one of us who saw your tail. It's not an attachment, either. It's the real thing. Tell her."

Cleo opened her mouth to deny the existence of such a thing, but Lewis spoke up first.

"What she means to say is that it's not just an attachment like fins tacked onto pants. I made her a _real_... _tail_, fittedwith scales, and she was testing it out. Sorry, we shouldn't have come in here without permission."

"No, you shouldn't," she said, raising an eyebrow. "Do you know, now I've got a string of guests asking me where the mermaid exhibit is?"

"Right. Sorry, Mrs. Geddes. We'll get out of your hair, then..." he took Cleo's hand to urge her along.

"You know what kills me?" she continued. "All those people... willing to pay extra, lining up outside my gates, and I can't charge that extra fee because we don't have a mermaid."

Lewis shook his head in sympathy. "That is just... terrible, really."

"But we _could_ have a mermaid."

"What?"

"How would you like to test that tail out again? Every weekend."

It was hard to say which of the three were most in shock from her offer.

"No, that's... not possible," Lewis stuttered.

"I was asking Cleo," she said sharply. "You gave her the tail, right?"

Cleo looked from Lewis to Mrs. Geddes, sparing only a fleeting glance at Charlotte, who was currently turning an unflattering shade of red. "He's uh... he's the one who invented the tail. And... my manager!"

"Right. I see where this is going. You want him signed on, too? Fine. He can be your manager. Work with Steve to figure out where and when the shows are, but I want you part of my exhibit. Got it?"

Cleo nodded, trying to accept the current situation as reality.

"Do you have that tail now?" she directed to Cleo, but she was not prepared to answer.

"It's uh... in a special case," Lewis said, "We keep it safe that way."

"Sure. Just bring it out when you're ready, and he'll get you set up."

Before the sound of Mrs. Geddes heels had faded from across the way, Charlotte brushed past Cleo and hissed, "This isn't over."

"You're right," she said, "I'll be coming back with my tail every weekend!"

Charlotte looked to Lewis for support, but he shrugged.

"Thanks for the job?"

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Foiled again! HAH! As you can see, I am not in the habit of making irritating characters get away with things. Ever. And if anyone's wondering what happened to Nate, I'll expound on that next chapter. He was going to be in this one, but Lewis took over with being cute and I didn't have room for Nate anymore. :P Hehehe...


	13. Chapter 13

**xiii**

"Hey, what's up with you?"

Zane found Nate sulking in a booth at the JuiceNet, and although it wasn't such an unusual occurrence, what was _un_usual was the amount of time he'd spent doing it. Nate's moods were the opposite of steady, but he'd never spent a whole afternoon at a table by himself. There should have been a group of girls giggling at his inane sense of humour, or a few guys making fun of his newest pick-up lines that he guaranteed to work—which they did. For all of five seconds.

Though he wouldn't admit it in a million years, it made Zane worried that none of that was happening now.

Nate flicked a crumb off the otherwise spotless table, and spoke as if he hadn't heard Zane's question.

"Anyone ever... offer you a way to fix all your problems, but it ended up not being worth it?"

"Uh... not sure what you mean." Zane narrowed his eyes at Wilfred, deep in conversation with a man in a suit who was handing him a folder of important looking papers. He wondered how interesting it must be run a cafe; make the daily decisions that could boost or sink the business, raise and lower sales... fire employees. He knew enough about business to understand the challenges, and thought it could be a way to pass the time. He could make something of himself other than being a trust fund kid with a loaded dad. But only if it was a place like the JuiceNet. He'd never follow in his dad's footsteps.

Nate sighed again and tapped his glass of stagnant water. Zane couldn't be sure how long it had sat there untouched, but there was no moisture on the outside of the glass, and the water inside was still.

He raised an eyebrow, about to point out how gross it was, and ask if he was going to replace it, but stopped himself when he saw the way the water reacted to Nate's idle taps.

"What's in there?"

"Huh? Water."

"That's not water, it's... jelly, of some sort."

"No, it's not. Why would I drink jelly?" Nate picked up the glass to swirl it around and call his friend crazy, but he found the water had turned into a blob that refused to swish.

Zane stared hard at him. "Dude. Are you... Don't tell me." He dropped his voice to an angry whisper. "Were you on Mako Island during the last full moon?"

Nate blinked and leaned in. "How did you know? Are you one, too?"

Zane groaned at having his fears confirmed. "No, but let's just say I know someone else with the same problem."

"Cleo, right? I forgot she and Rikki are close." His tone turned petulant. "Charlotte did this to me."

"What are you talking about?"

"She's obsessed with Lewis! She took us to Mako to find out why he and Cleo are always there. We ended up in the moon pool, and... well, you know the rest."

"Hang on. Charlotte did this because she's in love with Lewis?"

"I don't know if love's the right word, mate. She said if I helped her out I'd get Cleo as part of the deal, but her way of 'fixing' things was showing everyone Cleo's a mermaid. I was like, 'No way, that's not even worth it.' So she got mad and went to do it herself. I've seen Cleo when she's upset. I don't think that's something she'd get over soon, and I'm not ready to deal with that. I mean... that seems kind of cruel, doesn't it?"

"Nate. Focus. Did she tell you how she was going to do it?"

"Nah. But she was grinning over some maps of the marine park the other day. Stuffed 'em back in her bag as soon as she saw me."

"Zane? What are you doing over here?" Rikki teased as she came to their corner, "Nate _cannot_ be better company than me."

"Hey." Zane took her hand as he looked up at her. "Have you seen Cleo lately?"

"No, she and Lewis were going to Sea World for a date."

"Uh oh. See if you can get a hold of her, _now_!"

"Why, what's going on?"

"Charlotte knows about y..." he glanced at Nate, "about Cleo, and she's going to trap her into showing everyone at the marine park."

"What? How do you... how does Nate figure into this?"

"There's no time right now; just warn Cleo! Tell her to stay away from the water rides, the turtle tanks... if she doesn't listen, tell Lewis. He won't let her stick around if she's in danger."

"Yeah, okay. But you'll explain all this just as soon as I'm done!"

"Of course. I promise, just... get a hold of Cleo."

"I think we're too late!" Rikki said after the sixth call to Cleo's mobile with no answer. "She's not picking up."

"Let's go." Zane got up from the booth and looked back at Nate. "You coming? Or are you just going to sit there moping while a girl you say you like is in trouble?"

Nate blanched. "You don't understand! Charlotte will _kill_ me."

"No, she won't. Although she'll definitely try," Rikki scoffed.

"You haven't seen her powers!"

"What powers?" she asked.

"She does something to the water. She makes it... I dunno... angry, or something! It's like a storm, but more... smallish, I guess. I'm not going near her. Not even for a babe like Cleo."

"And that's why Lewis got the girl," Rikki said, rolling her eyes at him. "Fine. I thought you'd gained some man points there, but I guess not."

"Can't you repel her powers with your own? Turn her water attacks into jelly or something?"

"Are you serious?!" Rikki cried, "_Nate_...!"

"Fell into the moon pool with Charlotte."

Just then, her pocket started to jingle, and she answered the call right away. "Hello! Hello! He... Cleo! Cleo, be careful! Charlotte's planning on... what? Slow down. A job? You already have a job at the marine park. _WHAT!?_ Are you okay? What happened?"

There was silence on Rikki's end while Cleo rattled out the details of her afternoon.

"I... well, I'll tell Zane, then. We were about to come after you guys. Yeah, no problem. Nate told us, actually. He's uh... well, he."

At this, Nate shot up. "Tell her! Tell her what I can do!" he pointed excitedly to the cup of gelatinous mass.

"No, nothing cool like that. He just turns water to jelly. It's kind of a stupid power."

Cleo's laugh could be heard quite distinctly, even over the phone.

Nate sat down with a despondent thud.

"Yeah, okay. Talk to you later."

"Glad she's okay," Nate mumbled, staring into his blob creation.

"Yeah, no thanks to you."

"What happened?" Zane asked, "Did Charlotte pull any funny business?"

Rikki related the whole story, minus some details that involved Lewis's condition, ending with the intended exposure of their secret becoming a means to Cleo's employment.

"Emma is not going to be happy," she said finally. "I can hear her words of warning, now. '_It's too dangerous! What were you thinking? What if someone figures it out?'_ That reminds me, Nate." She waited for him to show some sign of paying attention. "If you tell _anyone_ about this, I will destroy you. Charlotte's powers are nothing compared to m..." she stopped as Zane kicked her under the table and coughed. "Compared to what I'll do to you if you use this against Cleo or Lewis."

"Yeah, I got it," he said glumly, this time poking his arm absently.

"Is he going to be okay?" Rikki whispered to Zane.

"Whoa!" Nate pointed a finger at his biceps, stretching and solidifying the water in his arms to expand his muscle. "Check it out!"

"Oh, great." Zane muttered. "He can beef up with water. Yeah, I think he'll be totally over it in approximately... fifteen more seconds."

"I'm going to head out," Rikki said. "The swim team was headed this way, so it's about to get noisy in here."

"Oh, that reminds me." Zane tried to pass it off as a casual question, but as soon as he asked it, even Nate snapped out of his self-absorbed experiments to stare at him, open-mouthed.

"How would you like to own a restaurant?"


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's Notes:** I am terribly sorry for the delay! It's still Wednesday evening for me and I am technically not yet late, but I am sorry to keep you all waiting! I no longer have chapters at the ready and have been scrambling to get these done in time for Beta and my sister to read before I post.

* * *

**xiv**

Rikki thought he was joking. He had to be joking. Zane Bennet who cared only about motorbikes and upsetting his dad could not be in earnest about owning a restaurant.

She said as much the next afternoon, when he brought it up again at the JuiceNet. Cleo had called for a friendship conference to discuss the latest developments in the case of Charlotte and Nate, and to catch up on personal gossip. She and Lewis were already there, and the four of them ordered juice while they waited for Emma and Ash to make their appearance.

Cleo was ecstatic about having everyone together. Emma said it sounded like a practical way to keep informed about any threat to their secret, and Rikki grumbled about it being too much like a triple date.

"Ooo, a triple date would be fun!" Cleo squealed.

"Cleo! No it wouldn't! Emma would schedule the whole thing and make us stick to a timeframe for each activity. Zane and I would make fun of her for it, and you and Lewis would be off in your own little bubble, completely unaware of anything going on around you. No thanks. We can hang out like this, but dating together is a bad idea." She looked to Zane for back up, but he was watching the queue of customers with a thoughtful expression.

"I wonder how he keeps profits up in the cold season..."

"What are you talking about?"

"Running a place like this," he answered sincerely.

Rikki was dumbfounded. "I thought that was a joke!"

"Nope. I'm totally serious," he assured her. "I don't want to be that useless bloke with loads of money and nothing to show for it. And before you say anything snarky, I am not taking up a fine art collection."

Rikki shut her mouth, smirking. He knew exactly how she was going to poke fun at him.

"It's not all it's cracked up to be." Wilfred stood over their table, drying a glass. "In fact, it looks like I may have to shut the place down."

"_What?!_"

The resulting chaos was unanimous. Lewis jumped up from his seat, crying, "Wilfred! You... you _can't!_" Cleo wondered aloud where she could ever buy her favourite drink, and Emma and Ash entered just in time to hear the bad news and panic over their employment status.

"Why didn't you tell us, Wilfred?" Emma asked, "This is about our jobs, too!"

"I didn't know until yesterday! I made some bad business decisions, and won't be able to keep the place open much longer. I'm really sorry, guys. No one's more devastated than I am. But that's how life goes."

"But we do _everything_ here!" Cleo said as tears formed in her eyes, "Where will we go to hang out? And announce parties? And surfing competitions? And _turtle_ sightings! Where will I ever find another Strawberry Surprise?" she pouted woefully at the pink slush inside her glass.

Ash patted her shoulder, "Don't worry, Cleo. I'll get the recipe for you before we close down. It won't be the same as having it here, but..." he trailed off, too unhappy to continue.

"Cleo's right," Emma interjected, "This is such a popular place. How could it close down?"

"Isn't there something we can do?" Lewis asked. "Host a fundraiser, or start a donation?"

"Does anyone owe you money? We'll find them for you and make them give it up," Rikki offered.

"You guys are great," Wilfred smiled sadly, "But no, those aren't viable solutions. I won't burden you with the details, but a good run in sales won't save us now. It's my fault that all this is coming about, and I'm sorry to let you kids down."

"There _has_ to be something," Emma insisted, "We can't just let this happen!"

Wilfred sighed. "The only thing that would bring me back is if someone bought the cafe from me. But to be honest, I don't think I could do that even with a generous offer. It would kill me to see this place change under a new owner. It's my pride and joy. Maybe that's unfair to you guys, but I can't bring myself to do it."

"I understand," Ash said quietly. The others were too glum to respond.

Zane, who had been silent the entire time, spoke up at last. "I'll buy it."

Emma gasped incredulously. Cleo looked up from her drink and sniffled. Lewis cocked his head as if Zane spoke a different language. Ash smiled and shook his head.

Wilfred chuckled. "That's kind of you to offer, but..."

"I'm dead serious," he said for the second time that day. "I have the money. I'll buy you back into business. You can keep the name, your position, the secret recipes, the layout... nothing has to change. I'll own it in name and on paper, but the cafe will still be yours to run as you please. It's not like I want to run it on my own."

"Zane, are you sure? This isn't like buying a bike."

"I know," he grinned, "this is way more important. Just let me help out. Show me how to operate this place so I have something to do. That's all I want in return."

"Zane, this is huge..." Wilfred began.

"Yeah, but look at them," he waved to the group of hopeful eyes at their table, "We can't let them suffer like this."

Rikki wasn't much for public displays of affection, but she made an exception and tiptoed to kiss Zane on the cheek. "You are without a doubt the best guy I know."

"Well, if this is how you're going to be, maybe I'll buy a couple more cafes."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't let go of his arm.

"So," Emma said, after things were settled and Wilfred had sauntered off. "What's this I hear about Nate being a merman?"

-x-

As expected, Emma did not take the news of Cleo's new job with much enthusiasm. She didn't get her chance to speak her mind during the commotion at the JuiceNet, but made sure she followed her to the marine park next time Cleo was on duty as a mermaid.

"I can't believe this," she said, lugging the giant black case meant to look like it would hold a tail. "What's in here, anyway?"

"Uh, clothes, mostly. Books. A few rocks to make it heavier."

"_Rocks_? And you lug this thing around?"

"Well, it has to look like it's tough to carry. Our tails aren't light! You wanted us to be careful, right? We're taking every precaution," she nodded seriously. "Lewis even had them set up a dressing room so I can put on the tail in privacy. Which just means I use the squirt bottle from inside the case to transform."

Emma tried to come up with a weakness in their plan, but she couldn't think of any outstanding issues. "I still don't like it."

"G'day, ladies!" Lewis called. He bounded up to take the heavy case from Emma. "Not to worry. The manager has arrived."

Cleo stifled a giggle as Emma shook her head in good humour. "Lewis, I hope you know what you're doing."

"Oh, absolutely. We've been over this _dozens_ of times. There is no way anyone will find out she's the real thing. And you should see the kids! They _love_ her!"

"Yeah, they're not the only ones, I bet," Emma said slyly.

Cleo turned pink as Lewis beamed at her. "True. That is true. Well, I'm off to check the tank. Be back around to help you in," he said with a parting kiss to Cleo's forehead.

Emma watched him head off with a thoughtful frown. "I hope you'll be okay."

"Why wouldn't we be?"

"I'm just worried since I saw Charlotte poking around the JuiceNet while we were all there... and she didn't look too happy."


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's Notes: **I could really go for a ginger beer right now. I thought that was important for you, as my concerned readers to know. :P

* * *

**xv**

Rikki took another left, following the directions Zane texted her, and stopped in front of a beach house. Confused, she punched in his speed dial and asked him over the phone, "Where am I? I think you sent me a wrong turn somewhere. I thought you said you had something for me."

"I do."

The balcony door swung open, and Zane stepped out with the phone still at his ear. "This is it!"

"What's it?"

"This! This house!"

Rikki stared at him like he'd gone nuts.

He chuckled at her expression. "The full moon is coming up, and I was thinking... it'd be nice to have a place for you to get away. Somewhere you—and the others, I guess—could be safe, and not have to worry about Emma's parents being around, or Kim, or Elliot, or anything else."

"I guess that makes sense," she began, taking a few steps closer to the doorway, "but... you bought yourself a house for that?" She made her way inside, and was instantly impressed by the ocean view.

"Well, I needed a place of my own. Dad hasn't been _too_ bad to live with, but he's started to preach on his 'independent' soap box again. Anyway, it's multi-purpose."

He waited a few moments for her to inspect the house. Everything was set up with the intention of drawing the eye to the ocean. The interior was geometrical, basic, and nearly empty.

"It came with the furniture," he said. "I'm sure it could use a few more homey touches. But on the whole, how do you like it?"

Rikki shifted awkwardly. The gap in their financial circumstances had never seemed so huge. Her dad struggled to afford rent and groceries every month, and here Zane was, barely done with school, buying a beach house with the intention of it being for _her_ benefit just as much as his.

"It's gorgeous, but... how can you...?"

"Afford it? Easy. With the extra allowance I had saved, and Wilfred giving me half the profits from the JuiceNet. Hey, don't look at me like that. I tried to turn him down, but he wouldn't leave off until I agreed."

Rikki nodded. Her lips were pressed into a thin line. "The whole thing's like a glass box. How are we supposed to keep moonlight out?"

Zane smirked and put his hands on the counter behind her, trapping her there. She warily raised an eyebrow, thinking he was ignoring her question and trying to be a distraction. He grabbed a remote off the shelf and pushed a button. Dark shades slipped down over all the windows and sliding glass doors, dimming the house and shutting the outside world from their view.

"Now what do you think?"

"You're impossible," Rikki smiled, letting him wrap an arm around her. "So I can have the girls over for our full moon sleepovers? Great! We'll totally paint our nails, and talk about boys..."

"Fine by me. Since we'll be here, too."

"What? Who's 'we?'"

"I figure Lewis has to stick around with his... problem, and I'm not letting _him_ stay alone with a bunch of girls. Why does he get special treatment?"

"I don't know," she said teasingly, "Because he's Lewis?"

"Yeah, well that's not a good enough answer anymore," he grinned back.

"Anyone else you have planned to crash this party?"

"It _did_ occur to me that Nate could use some supervision..."

"Great. Emma will freak if Ash is left out. So might as well have him over, too." She paused. "Wait... so... where is everyone sleeping?" She looked him square in the eye, challenging him.

"I know what you're thinking, but don't worry about it. The guys will bunk down here, and you mermaids can have the upstairs to yourselves." He planted a reassuring kiss on her lips. "And you don't need to come down unless you get very, _very_ lonely."

She snorted in response. "Sounds like everything Emma would hate."

"So you should be first to go for it!"

Rikki laughed and smacked him lightly on the chest. "You know me well, Zane Bennet."

-x-

No one had seen or heard of Charlotte since Emma spotted her at the JuiceNet, and Cleo was doing her best to pretend it didn't bother her. She and the girls dropped their bags and sleeping rolls in the empty bedroom and rejoined the guys downstairs for the grand tour. Cleo noticed that Rikki was quieter than usual. Everyone knew Charlotte was too vindictive to give up just like that, but spirits were still high as the girls ooh'd and ah'd over the new house.

Ash asked Zane if he was _sure_ he wanted to use his place for moontime madness.

Zane nodded. "I just figured if we have to keep an eye on our moonstruck mermaids, might as well be in comfort, right?"

"I won't argue with that," Lewis said, hopping onto a nearby recliner and flipping on the telly.

"Whatever," Emma retorted. "Are the windows safe?

"Rikki checked them out herself," Zane assured her. "Right, Rikki?"

She nodded, but didn't say a word.

"Hey, what's up with you?" Emma asked her aside from the commotion. "Is everything okay?"

"Fine. Everything's great!"

Cleo shared a look with Emma. "You don't... _look_ great. You look kind of sad."

"Are you and Zane fighting?" Emma asked.

"No, nothing like that. It's embarrassing. I don't want to talk about it."

Cleo frowned. "As embarrassing as all the things I've shared with you girls?"

Rikki sighed.

"Come on," Emma urged, "It's not getting any better by you sulking over it."

"I'm not sulking," she insisted. "And I don't need to talk to you two about it. This is between me and Zane."

"Suit yourself," Emma remarked casually, making off with two chilled sodas.

Cleo wrinkled her nose in distaste over Emma's drink selection, and made a string of bubbles line up out of her juice box and jump into her mouth.

Rikki waited for Cleo to notice her staring at her quizzically. "Why are you so weird?"

Cleo giggled without shame and shrugged. "Wanna try it with ginger beer?"

"Of course!" she grinned.

-x-

Things were quiet until long after everyone was in their own sleeping bags—or in Lewis's case, the recliner—drifting off to sleep.

It started with the sink dripping.

"Hey," Zane groaned, "Who left that thing on. Nate?"

Nate was sound asleep, snoring with a vengeance in his sleeping bag.

"I'll get it," Ash volunteered with a tired sigh. He got up and fiddled with the lever for a minute or two. "Hey. Something's wrong with the faucet."

"What do you mean?" Zane yawned.

"It won't stop dripping."

"Aw, seriously?" Zane went to check it out, and after several attempts to turn it off, it neither turned on higher nor turned off. "I don't know what's going on. Soon as it's morning, I'll call..." He was drowned out by a sudden gush of water flying out of the faucet and soaking him and Ash.

"Whoa!" he cried.

"What was that?" Ash sputtered, shaking the water off his arms.

Lewis craned his neck up over the top of the chair. "Usually when freaky stuff happens with the water in the house, it has something to do with moon fever."

"Check on the girls," Zane said, and all three of them raced upstairs.

Both Emma and Rikki were fast asleep, but Cleo's sleeping bag was empty.

"Uh oh..." Lewis uttered. "That's not a good sign."


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's Notes:** I wrote a little poem last time, after I ended the chapter with a cliffhanger.

_Cleo, oh Cleo, oh where hast thou fled?_  
_You're not in your sleeping bag, or in the bed._  
_Lewis is worried, and Nate looks so sad._  
_The fact that you're missing is very, very bad._

I know. It's okay to cry. :P

* * *

**xvi**

Simultaneously, the tea kettle from down in the kitchen started to whistle and the bathtub down the hall began to fill. Ash ran downstairs to silence the kettle before it woke the girls up, and Lewis and Zane headed towards the bathroom.

The door was locked, and the light was on.

Lewis jiggled the knob with some force. "Cleo! Cleo, you in there?"

A bleary Cleo opened the door, causing both Lewis and Zane to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

"Hey guys..." she waved sleepily with four fingers. "I washed my hands and dried them _really_ quickly... then the sink broke." She pointed at it with a yawn.

The sink as well as the bathtub were both running water full blast.

"Are you okay?" Lewis asked her. "You didn't do any of this by accident?"

Cleo shook her head.

"Are you feeling... moon... sickish?" Zane added.

She rubbed her eyes, about ready to fall asleep standing. "The moon went to bed already. I fell asleep, too."

"Uh... how do we know if she's been moonstruck or not?" Zane queried. "She's just as confused when she's half asleep."

Lewis took her by the shoulders, "Hey, Cleo. Fancy a swim?"

She crinkled up her nose. "No _way_! I want to go back to the marshmallow people." She touched foreheads with him and pleaded, "Sing me the duckling song."

"She's good," Lewis announced cheerfully, directing her back to the girl's space.

"Yeah, I'm not even gonna ask," Zane said, "But if she's not moonstruck, who's messing with the water?"

"I don't know," Lewis admitted.

"Hey, guys!" Ash called from the bottom of the stairs, trying to be as quiet as possible while still getting their attention. "The kettle's not even plugged in, but it's still going off! I stuffed it in the cupboard to get it quiet, but that's not all. The ice box is rattling, and the sink still won't shut off. There's something seriously wrong going on here."

Zane and Lewis shared troubled glances.

"Charlotte," Lewis said under his breath. "Nate keeps saying how she has these special powers. I've got to go and stop her."

"Wait!" Zane held him back. "If you go out there now and confront her head on, she'll know about your powers. Who knows what kind of havoc she could cause, then."

"You're right," he said in defeat.

"I've got a better idea," Zane announced, explaining his plan as quickly as he could, "...and hopefully, that'll scare her off without making this a power struggle. Or causing anymore damage to my house!"

Ash was still waiting at the bottom of the stairs. "Hey! Care to let me in on the strategy?"

"Yeah, just try to keep up," Zane shot back with a smirk.

_-x-_

Outside, Charlotte stood with arms outstretched, concentrating all her powers on the water main. She could feel the water straining against obstacles; pulsing and sloshing like a living thing, roiling up with her anger and shooting out from every pore of the house.

She _would_ be heard! Lewis would _have_ to pay attention to her now, as she posed a threat to Cleo. The thought that he would only speak to her on Cleo's behalf fed her fury, and she sent another violent stream through a pipe, hoping this one would finally be enough to call him to attention.

The front door opened—if it could be considered the front; nothing in the house's layout was very clear as to front, back, or side—and Charlotte braced for a confrontation with Lewis.

Zane stepped outside and was physically shaken by the wind that whipped around his new home.

"Excuse me!" he shouted over the noise, "I know you're mad at Lewis and all, but this is my house and I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't tear it up before I've had a chance to properly use it."

Bewildered, Charlotte hesitated and the wind died down. "I'm not mad at Lewis."

"That's weird. If I were you, I'd be furious with him. He's such an idiot."

"I don't want to hurt Lewis," she said, still confused. "Send him out to talk to me!"

Zane pretended to consider a moment. "I don't think so. He's kind of busy cleaning up the mess you made. And then he's gotta tuck Cleo in, read her a bedtime story..." He tried not to laugh at the way Charlotte's eyes went crazy and her fingers twitched.

"You don't understand! Lewis should be with _me_!"

"Okay, fine! I get it!" he threw his hands up, "But you're not helping your case by making enemies of the rest of us."

"Enemies!? You want an enemy!" she sputtered, the last thread of calm she had snapping in two, "I'll show you..." Charlotte cupped her hand into a claw, and twisted her wrist in a violent motion. Zane took a step back, prepared for the worst, and prayed Lewis would come through.

A breeze blew past, but it was not of Charlotte's making.

"What's happening?" she panicked.

"Nothing," Zane replied, smiling. "Are you sure you're trying hard enough? Rikki usually just flexes her hand, and stuff starts to boil."

Incensed, Charlotte flung her hands even harder at the house.

All was quiet; no wind, no water, no whistling from the kettle.

"Aw, that's a shame. Did the moon take away your powers or something? I heard it can do crazy things to mermaids."

Charlotte let out a horrible screech, stretched her hands towards the house a few times more, and failed to do anymore damage.

As she stamped and flailed her exasperation, Ash appeared beside her, holding up a phone.

"What are you doing?!" she demanded.

"Oh, just recording this. I think the internet would love to see it. They're always fond of a mental break down."

"_What!?_" Charlotte lunged, "Give that to me!"

"Nnnooo... I don't think so. But I'll make you a deal. You get lost and make a point never to come back, and I won't forward this video to everyone we know."

Charlotte's nails dug into her own palms as she clenched her fists. "I will come back! And when I do, you're dead! Lewis is mine! This isn't over."

"Sure it is," Zane said. "And if you show up again, I'll call the police!"

As soon as Charlotte had gone, Lewis emerged from his hiding place at the bottom of an embankment.

"Well!" he said, "Looks like we got rid of her. And we didn't even need the girls' powers!"

"Nicely done," Zane nodded.

"Speaking of the girls, we'd better check on them," Ash said, fiddling with the phone. "If they woke up and got a peek at the moon somehow..."

"Hey, don't delete that!" Zane warned.

"Are you kidding? We have to show the girls what we were up against! I'm not losing this for anything! We have successfully battled an evil mermaid!"

Lewis laughed. "Don't forget it was _me_ who was doing all the hard work! And if you get more than a 'nice,' out of Emma, I'll give you twenty dollars."

"You're on!" Ash said.

The three of them returned upstairs to find their girlfriends in blissful sleep. Emma slept comfortably on her side, straight as a ruler. Cleo was curled up with a pillow clasped against her as she drooled all over it. Rikki had stolen half of Cleo's blanket off of her in addition to her own, and was half in, half out of her sleeping bag.

Zane chuckled quietly. "I don't think the commotion disturbed them too much." He held his hand out towards Ash as he captured the scene with a photo. "I'll take my mobile back, now."

"Right. Sorry."

The next morning, the girls came down for breakfast looking properly refreshed.

"I think that was the best sleep of my life!" Emma commented. "I can't believe nothing happened!"

Cleo was puzzled. "I thought for sure Charlotte might try something. I'm glad she didn't," she added with a smile, greeting Lewis with a kiss to the cheek.

"Hey," Nate passed between the girls to make some coffee. "Quiet night, eh?" He stumbled around the kitchen, scratching his head in bemusement. Finally, he opened the cupboard under the sink. "Why's the kettle buried under a bunch of towels?"

Lewis stood at the end of the counter, arms crossed. "I think there's something you'll want to see." He, Zane, and Ash were all looking quite pleased with themselves.

"What's going on? Why are you looking at us like that?" Emma asked, slipping a straw into her health drink.

"Check Zane's mobile," Rikki suggested. "He probably taped something weird last night."

"You have _no_ idea!" Ash grinned.

"Whoa... hang on," Zane said, scrolling through his phone. "This... this can't be who I think it is... can it?"

The guys gathered around, leaving little space for the girls to see. Cleo tried standing on her tiptoes, but Rikki and Emma were also blocking her view. "What is it? What does it say?" she strained.

Nate read a portion of the article. "'Isolated storm claims a young girl's life in a boating accident...' Who? Who do you think it is?"

Zane kept scrolling until a name popped up. "'...believed to be the body of...' No way," he breathed.

Cleo elbowed her way past Nate and peered over Rikki's shoulder. She let out a squeak and read the name out loud.

"Charlotte Watsford!"


	17. Chapter 17

xvii

Charlotte sped towards the docks, the wind stinging her eyes. The wind that wasn't hers.

Too frightened to try directing it another way, she would wait until she was out in open water, and no one could witness her failure—if that's what she was now. A failure. She'd failed to make Lewis hers, and she failed to become the most powerful mermaid of them all.

Why wouldn't her powers work? Was it like Zane said? The full moon sapped her energy from her? It hadn't done that before. Usually the moon made her stronger; near invincible.

She wasn't joking when she said she'd be back. Once her powers were in full force, she'd teach Cleo and Zane a lesson they'd never forget. And then she would teach Lewis to love her.

She thought she'd be alone, but a young man was just bringing his boat in. "Hey, don't go out in that," he warned. "The storm's picking up. It's not safe."

Charlotte raised her hand to blow him off the dock and be on her way, but just in time she caught herself, remembering the footage Ash had taped and how foolish she would look trying to wave her hands around while nothing happened.

It only increased her rage.

"I'll be fine," she spat. "Mind your own business."

"Okay," he relented. "But don't say I didn't warn ya."

Rolling her eyes, she shoved off and rowed as hard as she could until she was soaked with sea spray and perspiration, and the boat was rocking dangerously from the increasingly choppy waters.

Ignoring the developing storm, and the stranger's warnings, Charlotte ever so slowly stood up in the boat. She raised her arms towards the dark sky and forced a gust of wind to counteract the natural wind billowing around her.

It worked! As soon as she'd thought of _wind_ it tore into the sky. She laughed viciously to know that she was not a weakling as she'd feared. Exuberant to have her powers back, she gathered her remaining energy and fed it through the wind and waves around her. Lightening struck overhead. The wind created a vortex around her, whipping her hair away from her face. She threw her head back and grinned. The water surged, creating a whirlpool.

Suddenly aware of the danger she was in, she tried to stop, but the elements had overcome her will. The boat splintered in a mad crackle of wooden pieces. She was held up for several terrifying seconds by the whorl of sea and wind.

She let her arms fall, exhausted, and was enveloped in the blundering swell of the ocean.

_-x-_

"Don't feel bad," Lewis said, holding Cleo on the couch. Ever since reading the news about Charlotte, she had grown sombre and out of sorts. "It wasn't your fault that she went psycho."

The bystander who tried to stop Charlotte from going out on the boat was a friend of Nate's, and had told the gang what happened as far as he knew. The rest they pieced together from their knowledge of Charlotte's powers and the reports.

"If anything it was my fault. I helped freak her out by making her think her powers weren't working."

"No," Cleo sat up a little straighter, but didn't escape his arms. Hearing Lewis blame himself seemed to bring some clarity to her. "It's not your fault. If it's not my fault, it's not yours, either. No one expected her to go out in that storm. And _she_ chose to make it worse. I'm not going to let her keep making me feel bad, even now."

"Good. Hey, and I know what'll make you feel even better!" he announced.

"What?" she asked warily.

"Your shift at the marine park starts in twenty minutes."

She turned to face him, a smile finally brightening her face. "You're right!" She bounced up to gather her giant case of oddities, which in addition to clothing, now housed an array of brightly coloured eye glitter and stick-on gems.

Lewis had developed completely waterproof makeup to give Cleo a more elaborate theme park look for her mermaiding hours. The park manager was pleased that she was no longer recognisable as an ordinary girl, and Cleo had to admit, she certainly didn't feel like one being dubbed as the main attraction.

It was the easiest job in the world. She hid in the dressing room, pretending to change. Once wet, Lewis would help her into the tank. And then, for the next few hours, she made appearances for the kids, sometimes popping up in various areas of the park as a surprise, sometimes hanging out in this or that aquatic tank as scheduled.

The hardest part was remembering to be human. Lewis set her a timer that blinked to remind her when she needed to come up for air if she was scheduled for tank activities. They were clued in to that necessity after the first day when the dolphin handler grew concerned over the length of time she'd been underwater.

Thought her favourite part was to see the excited faces of little girls who always _knew_ mermaids were real and now had visible proof for the parents, she was glad there were not many today so she could forget the horrible fate of Charlotte by simply letting the machine-made currents lap over her soothingly.

It was a terrible tragedy, but life would go on.

As if to prove it, one little girl in a sundress and pigtails pressed her nose to the glass. Catching sight of Cleo, her face exploded into pure joy, and Cleo drew a little closer to make her day.

_-x-_

Much to everyone's surprise, it was Emma who took the news the hardest. She was extra vigilant about keeping their secret safe, traumatising Nate with her ferocity when he started using his jelly powers to impress girls. Lewis managed damage control by persuading them it was only a science trick, but Emma was beyond paranoid now when it came to water. She went so far as to beg Cleo to quit her job, and arranged for frequent sleepovers and day trips which even Rikki didn't whinge about.

Ash had quite the time of it, dealing with her paranoia. "Why are you wearing a raincoat?" he puzzled at her work attire.

"You can't be too safe," she shrugged. "Hey, can you pull the frozen mix from the freezer tonight? Last time I did that, some of the thawed ones almost dripped water on me."

"Look, Emma..." he began, "I know what happened was scary, but you can't live your life in constant fear like this."

"What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean. Ever since the accident, you've been acting like water's going to kill you."

She huffed with emotion. "That could have been me on that boat, Ash! That could have been one of the girls! If more people find out about our secret, and we make them angry, worse could happen to us. I can't lose my friends like that. I won't. If that means observing a few extra safety precautions..."

"These aren't a few extra precautions, though. They're taking over your life. You used to _love_ swimming around Mako, and holding all kinds of underwater contests with Rikki. You don't even go to the beach anymore! Not even with me!"

"I just don't think it's safe." She had turned her back to him, fiddling with the ties on her raincoat. Ash could tell she was on the verge of tears. "Water isn't safe anymore, and I'm afraid. I once froze Miriam solid by mistake, and she could have died. What if I do that to Cleo, or Rikki, and we can't help them?"

Ash took her by the shoulders and turned her around. Her silent shaking turned into muffled sobs. He hugged her tight and shushed her comfortingly. "That's not going to happen."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I know you, and I know you care too much for your friends to use your powers carelessly around them. And anyone who tried to take you head-on would be asking for it. You didn't see Charlotte that night. She was nuts. She didn't care about anything except her powers, and using them for revenge. That will never happen to Rikki and Cleo, because they have you to keep them in check. So stop worrying, okay?"

Emma nodded, and kissed him lightly. "Thanks, Ash."

"Anytime," he smiled down at her. "Oh, and one more thing." She looked at him expectantly. "I know you well enough to know you'll take off that raincoat before you make the customers think we have a leak."

_-x-_

"You're not still upset about Charlotte are you?" Zane asked with sincere concern. Rikki still hadn't regained her former sarcastic self, and he was beginning to worry.

"No, why would I be? She got what she deserved. If someone tried to steal you from me..."

Zane raised an eyebrow, waiting for the finish.

"Let's just say Lewis might want to learn prosthetics along with his other science stuff, just in case."

Zane laughed. "That's why I love you."

Rikki made a noncommittal response, and half-smiled. "I think we need to talk."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** In the interest of distracting you all from my cliffhanger ending, and possible backlash of character death... _Just_ out of curiosity, have any of you seen the new _Mako Mermaids_ show? I can neither confirm nor deny my having seen the first two episodes, and since my alleged viewing cannot be confirmed nor denied, I will make no further justifications for my merman theories that seem to be spot on. That's all! :P (*coughs*Iwrotethisfirst*coughs*) :D


	18. Chapter 18

**Based on Season 2, Episode 16: ****_Irresistible _**

* * *

**xviii**

Nate strummed the final chord of his song with a dramatic flourish, and looked off into the distance. A few JuiceNet customers glanced up from their drinks, but other than that, no one paid him any mind.

"Zoe," he approached a girl sitting at the counter. "What did you think of that?"

She rolled her eyes and stabbed her straw at the bottom of the cup. "Yeah, I think I'll skip the juice today."

Nate missed the hint of dismissal as she gathered her handbag and mobile.

"How about it?" he pressed, "You, me, your place. First guitar lesson is free."

"Well, guitar lessons from you _are_ at the top of my priority list," she scoffed with a flick of her hair.

"Yeah?" he smiled hopefully.

"Yep. Right under getting my fillings redone." She smirked as her insult sunk in and flounced away.

His face fell, and he went back to the table alone, strumming a much sadder tune than before.

Emma came around from wiping the counters to take Nate's empty glass. "Stop bothering the customers, Nate. I told you before; you're never going to get a girl that way."

"I'll never get one at all if I don't try," he retorted.

"Yeah, but you come on too strong. Get to know someone first, before you ask them out. And please make sure they're not already dating."

Nate made a face and was about to answer back, but a forced and gentle cough made him pause to see what the disturbance was.

Emma recognised her as Sophie Wakefield, a quiet girl who usually brought her homework to study alone at the back booth. She held several school books and a notebook today, and her thick, brown hair was kept back with a simple headband.

She ducked her head shyly when Emma and Nate broke their conversation to acknowledge her.

"Hi... Sorry, I just..." her eyes flickered from Nate and down to her feet. "I wanted to say I liked your song."

Emma raised an eyebrow and made a hurried excuse about having work to finish, leaving them alone.

Nate nodded sadly, staring glumly at his guitar strings. "Thanks, but it's not working out the way I wanted it to." He plucked out a few bars to a love song.

"That's too bad," she murmured. "I wish I could play. Do... do you think you could teach me?"

"Really?!" his face lit up for a moment, and then he cleared his throat and relaxed. "I mean, of course, I _would_ be the best instructor. I've already made stacks of money from teaching."

She smiled and brushed the bangs out of her eyes. "And you wouldn't mind teaching me, too? I mean... would it be a bother? If you're busy..."

"No!" he seemed to really notice her for the first time and was suddenly awkward. "That's... I could fit you in sometime..."

Ash shouted at him before he finished his sentence, "Nate! Stop messing around and clear a space for the softball team. You can't take up a whole table by sitting on it."

"Sorry," he muttered. "Gotta go. I guess I'll catch you later."

_-x-_

Zane was still confused and unhappy about his conversation with Rikki when he stumbled across something incredible.

From what he understood of Rikki's talk—and that was very little—she was uncomfortable with their _huge_ financial differences, as she put it. He didn't get it. As her boyfriend, wasn't he supposed to shower her with fancy dresses and jewellery? But that was part of the problem. She was happy to receive those gifts to an extent, but as soon as it became what she deemed "too much," it made her uncomfortable. So what was too much?

He was happy that there was no talk of a break up. But he was going to make sure it never came to that.

After a few internet searches for ideas and advice, Zane moved on to mermaids. The stuff he found was usually laughable. He knew enough about Rikki to dismiss it as myth or fiction. But something in particular caught his eye, and he had to be sure...

He went to Lewis straight away.

He found him at the dock by the Sertori's, in his fishing boat—miraculously without Cleo. That was good. Zane wasn't keen on having Cleo around for that particular conversation.

He sat on the ice chest that was in the process of being loaded and asked, "What do you know about ambergris."

Lewis smirked and shook his head.

"What's so funny?"

"Ambergris is a myth," he stated with confidence.

"So it doesn't exist?" Zane pressed. "Because the internet said..."

"It _does_ exist. But all that stuff about the scent having magical powers on mermaids is rubbish. You know what it is, right?"

He shrugged. "Perfume."

"No, it was used in perfumes. It's solidified oil used from a substance found in whale droppings. Why do you ask?" He said with suspicion.

"I go out with a mermaid. I'm interested in this stuff. And if it does have some kind of mesmerizing affect on mermaids, well, it... could be useful in certain situations." A smile tickled the corners of his mouth.

Lewis blinked. "Please give me one example."

"I dunno... you could use it on Cleo."

"What... are you suggesting, that I _lure_ Cleo with this potion into some sort of..._ doings_?"

Zane raised an eyebrow and bit back a grin.

Lewis shook his head, doing his best to be offended. "No. No, I will not be persuaded. Cleo and I are _fine_ without that stuff. Just _fine._"

"Suit yourself."

It was only a week later that he came looking for Lewis again, this time as he approached the JuiceNet.

"Lewis!" he flagged him down, "Lewis, I found it."

"Found what," he said as Zane handed him a fancy looking glass bottle with a yellowish liquid inside.

"Pure ambergris."

"How?!"

"The internet. The antique seller who gave it to me said it's over a hundred years old!"

Lewis snorted and crossed his arms. "Don't you think you've crossed the line here?"

"I bought this out of scientific curiosity!" he said, "You of all people should understand that," he grinned, spraying a liberal amount in the air between them, covering them both in the mist.

Both gagged and waved their hands to ward off the smell.

"It smells like rotten squid!" Zane complained.

"Well, it _is_ over a hundred years old and made of whale excrement! What if I turn right here, Zane?" But the ten seconds came and went, and still he had no tail.

"Must be special stuff," Zane decided.

Lewis sniffed his shirt, and his face contorted. "Great! I'm supposed to be having lunch with Cleo any minute!"

Zane grimaced and covered his nose, but behind it, he was hiding a laugh. "I think you're going to be eating by yourself."

Cleo trotted up, looking forward to their date. "Hey, Lewis! Sorry I'm late! Kim took my favourite head scarf again and I couldn't..." as she got closer, she caught a sniff of Lewis soaked in the ambergris odour. Her expression went from surprise to something else. She bit her bottom lip and sidled up to Lewis, grasping his arm. "Where are we going to lunch, Lewis?" Her eyes locked onto him. "I hope it's somewhere _private_."

"Uh... I thought the JuiceNet since we're here. Is a booth okay?"

She sighed contentedly. "So long as you never leave my sight." And reaching on tiptoe, she grabbed him by the neck and kissed him fiercely.

Zane laughed. "Well, Mister Ambergris-is-a-Myth. I think I've proven you wrong. Man, this stuff is incredible. I'd better keep it safe..."

"What are you talking about?" Nate announced his presence by butting right in. He saw the mysterious bottle and snatched it at once.

"Whoa! Nate... don't...!" But it was too late. Nate had squirted another heaping dose onto himself.

Lewis finally managed to break away from Cleo's passionate exhibition. "I think... maybe we should stop... and get something to eat."

She pouted, and it was difficult that he found it so adorable. "But I don't want to eat. I just want to keep kissing you!"

Nate looked suspiciously at the bottle in his hand and back at Cleo and Lewis. "Does this have anything to do with...?"

"No!" Zane and Lewis said at once, confirming his suspicions by their forced denial. Smug, Nate stalked into the JuiceNet. "Very nice! Ladies, here I come!"

"Nate, wait!" Zane tried to stop him, but faltered at the last moment. "Do you think I should tell him it only works on mermaids?"

"Nah, let him find out for himself," Lewis said. "I'm going to take Cleo somewhere she won't make a fool of herself. She'd hate me if Emma found out about this."

"Emma." Zane paused. "Wait... doesn't Emma work today?"

"Yeah? So?

"And Nate just went in there with the bottle, and a whole bunch of that stuff dumped on him..."

Their eyes widened, and as a host of disgusted customers began pouring out of the shop, Zane went in to see what the damages were.

Nate had, in addition to clearing the entire cafe due to his stench, somehow collided with Ash, who was now also drenched in whale refuse, and dealing with a very clinging Emma as he tried to send Nate away.

"Can't you go somewhere else? Or at least take a bath!" He shooed him off. "What is this stuff? Ugh, and you got it all over me, too! It stinks!"

"I think you smell great," Emma crooned, "Manly, and attractive... I just want to spend the rest of the day with you, Ash. Can we stop work now and do something together? I'll do whatever you want. Just stay with me."

"Something's wrong with you, Emma."

"I'll say!" came a sharp voice from behind. Zane turned from a frantic Ash to see Rikki standing with her hands on her hips in the doorway. "Get a hold of yourself, Emma. You're embarrassing me."

* * *

**Author's Notes:** *hides* I did it! I introduced an O/C! I didn't plan on it, but then I was watching the episode for this, and Nate made such a sad face when Cleo turned him down that I had to make it better! I'm a sucker for those sad man faces. :P

Also, my apologies for the really late update. I just made it before it turned Thursday for me due to a late shift at work. I'd love to hear your thoughts on Sophie!


	19. Chapter 19

**Author's Warning:** Within this chapter are a few awkward situations, one of which may be slightly over a PG rating, depending on your delicate sensibilities. I just wanted to make that known beforehand. My apologies if you find it at all offensive. Though I have to admit, I laughed through this entire chapter, and I hope you all find it as amusing as I did. :)

* * *

**xix**

Seeing Zane, she relaxed a bit, but still came closer. "Hey. I'm glad you're here. I wanted to talk to you about... the last thing we talked about."

"Uh, sure, but can it wait? I really don't think you want to be near me right now."

"That's not true!" she said, mistaking his meaning. "I do! It's just that..." and mid-sentence, he knew she'd caught the scent and been mesmerised, too.

"What's going on?" Nate whinged. "How come it's not working for me?"

"Only works on mermaids," Zane said quietly, slapping him on the back. "Sorry, buddy. All the mermaids are taken."

"Seriously, guys, get out of the cafe. Now," Ash insisted.

"Hey, look," Zane said, "You've got it too, so it's not going to help unless you clear out as well."

"Fine," he said with an exasperated sigh. He slapped the towel he held down on the counter—an action that would have seemed more aggressive had Emma not been inhibiting his movements with her stroking his arm. She picked up the towel and roped his neck with it.

"Kiss me, Ash," she demanded, and before he could protest, she began to kiss him herself.

Rikki's reaction to the ambergris was of a different sort. She pulled Cleo's scarf off the top of her head and began dancing around Zane with a ridiculous intensity.

"I like where this party's going!" Nate exclaimed, picking up his guitar and starting a lively strumming, fit for a tango.

Soon, all three of the girls were dancing around their partners, flailing scarves or dry towels Emma brought from behind the counter, and looking quite certain of their attractiveness as they did so.

"Uh... girls?" Ash pleaded as table by table emptied and the guests walked out, disgusted and annoyed. "Could we please vacate the premises?"

Rikki stuck out her chin in defiance, "I'm _dancing_ with _Zane_!"

"Yeah, I know, but..."

Zane laughed. "Oh, come on, Ash. Lighten up. I kind of like the effect of this stuff. Sure beats the cold shoulder."

"Everyone is leaving!" he cried, "The JuiceNet won't have a single customer if we keep this up!"

"You don't like my dance?" Emma frowned, "I twirled especially for you!"

"No, it's not that..." he tried to appease her.

"Let's go to the beach!" Cleo cried, dragging her towel across Lewis's shoulder.

"I thought you didn't like the beach anymore," he said, "There are too many strangers, and lots of water."

"There's water everywhere," she rolled her eyes, " Just... _more_ at the beach. And maybe you can take your shirt off, there." She giggled, and blinked at him coyly.

"Okay, you are definitely not the real Cleo. The real Cleo would _never_ say that... would she?" he hesitated.

"I'm not real?" she exclaimed. A moment of shock prevailed, and then she burst into tears.

"No, Cleo, that's not what I..." he ran after her as she bolted for the exit. "Cleo! Come back!"

He caught up to her at the beach, unfortunately with plenty of people there. Cleo was not crying anymore. In fact, her back was turned to the ocean, and she stared Lewis straight in the eye for every step backwards she took towards the waves.

"Noooo, Cleo...! You're going to get wet, and then everyone will see!"

"Don't you like me?" she smirked and her voice turned sultry. "Turn into a merman, Lewis. You like me better as a mermaid, don't you?"

"I... I like you a _lot_ in both forms, trust me, but this isn't right, and you're making it very hard to..." he pressed his lips together firmly, "Cleo, if you don't get away from the ocean, right now...!"

She took another step back, holding back giggles of anticipation.

"Fine. I never thought I'd be saying this, but... Cleo, if you come away from the water, I'll take off my shirt for you."

"Really?! Do you _promise_?"

"Yes, I promise. But not here. Let's go somewhere else."

"Yeah, somewhere _private._"

"I... sure!" his voice cracked at the end. "Somewhere private."

Their "somewhere private" ended up to be Zane's place, where Ash had finally convinced the others to relocate.

Zane practically yanked Lewis's arm off as he pulled him through the door. "We have _got_ to make this stop!"

"I thought you said you liked the effects of the ambergris," Lewis taunted with a half smile.

"Yeah, but that was before she insisted on singing through Dad's entire collection of 80's love ballads."

Rikki was shouting loudly into a karaoke mic in an attempt to sing. Cleo was ecstatic. "You sound great, Rikki!" she squealed in encouragement.

Rikki's grin could not have been wider as she pointed to Zane and winked.

"I just want Rikki back," Zane scowled.

"No problem. All we have to do is wash this stuff off."

"I don't think they'll let us out of their sights..." Ash whinged. Emma insisted on sitting on his lap as she fed him strawberries. He was fairly certain he would never want to eat another one after today.

"As appealing as that _might_ have sounded before, I think you're right," Lewis said.

"What about Mako?" Ash suggested.

"Too risky," Zane said.

Lewis nodded in agreement. "Who knows what could happen to us if we introduced this stuff to the marine life on the way there."

"Best just take a shower," Zane proffered.

All three guys eyed each of their girls who dropped what they were doing at the sound of 'shower' and looked up with hopeful eyes. Lewis shook his head. "No. It's not happening."

"Come on," Zane chuckled. "You have to wash your clothes, too. Might as well do it all at once. As soon as the scent goes away, they'll snap out of it and walk away feeling awkward. And if they don't... no harm done."

"Yes, harm done!" Lewis argued.

Ash managed to get up from the chair and was now part of their huddle. "Do we have any other choice?" he pointed.

Lewis had to agree that they did not. So it was with strong reservations he waited his turn with Cleo outside Zane's bathroom.

He and Rikki came out talking rather loudly. Rikki showed no signs of having been wet, and was using her powers to dry Zane as well.

"Why on _earth_ would you think buying that stuff was a good idea?" She smacked him soundly on the back of the head for good measure.

"You weren't talking to me, and I thought this would help," he winced.

"Yeah? And how did that work out?" She shook her head at him. "Next time, just give me the chance to sort it out, okay? And where's that bottle? You're throwing it out."

"What?" she snapped, as he just smiled at her through the tirade.

"It's good to have you back," he said.

"Shut up," she replied, but let him pull her into a kiss.

Lewis thought he could bolt away while Cleo was distracted by Rikki, but he was wrong. She was right on his heels the entire time, up until the water blasted on them both, and he found himself in a worse predicament than the ambergris effect.

As they both grew tails, Cleo flopped on top of him, causing something very awkward and peculiar to happen in his lower region.

"Just like dolphins..." he muttered, and then said with greater force, "Cleo, could you get off, please?"

"What..." she sputtered, still recovering from the sudden release of the potion and not quite realising what her presence was doing to him. "Why are we in the shower, Lewis!?"

"It's a long story; one that starts with Zane acquiring a very rare fragrance. Now, I really need you to move if you possibly can."

Her brow furrowed in confusion. Lewis was not usually so snippy with her. It wasn't as if it was _her_ fault they were merfolk in the shower! But then she noticed a protrusion beneath her tail, and recognising the similarity to seeing the dolphins copulate at the park made her turn red and scoot away as fast as she could.

She sat with her back to him as they both dried off, needlessly covering her face as often as possible from the severe flush.

She still hadn't stopped blushing once she'd dried and Lewis's interesting problem had gone away for the time being.

When they were relatively back to normal, and she was finally able to look him in the face, she bit back a giggle. "Well. I guess you'll have to marry me, or something."

-x-

Nate sat alone, once again, at a back booth at the JuiceNet. Ash had begged him to leave, but as soon as he realised the gang wasn't going to let him continue following them, he headed right back for another juice.

There were only one or two guests on the other side of the cafe, and Nate was pretty sure they had head colds and no sense of smell. That explained why they were still there. He sighed and ducked his head. Why didn't the fancy perfume work for him? He thought it smelled rather nice, but that wasn't the general opinion.

He was about to get up and go home when a light cough distracted him from his musing. He looked up to see Sophie standing with a sketchpad and a coloured pencil tucked behind her ear.

"Hey," he said glumly. "What's up?"

"Oh... nothing..." she stammered without a real answer.

"Hey!" he said, sitting up a bit straighter, "You don't think I smell, do you?"

She wrinkled her nose in thought, "Maybe a bit."

"But you don't mind?" he questioned. "You're not going to run out, holding your nose?"

She giggled, and somehow it made his day a lot better. "No, I don't mind."

"Have a juice with me, then," he said, and before she could move to the opposite side of the booth he corrected himself. "Would you please... if you'd like to... have a juice with me?"

She smiled and sat across from him.

"You do smell pretty bad," she affirmed. "Kind of like canned tuna."

Nate laughed. It seemed the stuff worked after all.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Notes:** Wow. I am getting later and later with the updates, and I am really sorry! Shopping for mine and my Beta's Scottish holiday has taken up most of my free time, and I sometimes forget for a few hours that I have chapters to write and upload!

This one is quite special, and I very much hope you enjoy it. :)

* * *

**xx**

"Rikki, I need to ask your advice."

Lewis kept glancing back and forth at every tickle of the wind as if afraid someone might overhear him. It was a silly gesture; they were the only two in the yard. Zane was boating with Nate, and Emma was helping Cleo with her shift. To be honest, Rikki felt more comfortable letting Lewis hang out in her yard. Zane was someone she wanted to impress. Lewis was just... Lewis.

She leaned back lazily in the lawn chair. "If it's about that shirt, whoever sold it to you should be fired,"

"No, it's about Cleo." He paced in front of her rubbing his hands together. "Although I am something of an expert on the subject, I admit I find myself lost in this particular situation."

"All right," she relented, setting her magazine aside. "Spit it out. What's your problem?"

"Wait," he paused, looking down at the bright print, "what's wrong with my shirt?"

"Lewis…" she rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Fine. I was thinking... With everything that's happened between us; Cleo and me, I mean, we've known each other since we were kids, and it's not like there's ever going to be anyone else for me..."

"Get to the point, Lewis!"

"Well, she said so herself, and now I'm thinking, 'Why not?'"

"Said what? Why not _what_?"

"Why not get married?"

"_What!?_" She stood up from her seat in a panic. "You've gotta be joking! You're being funny, aren't you?"

He shook his head. "No. I am being completely in earnest, here."

"Then you're insane. You're officially, off the charts insane!" She threw her hands up over her head. "What do you need to get married for?"

"Well, why not? I mean, what are the reasons not to?"

"Uh, you don't have a place to live," she began.

"Actually, that's not quite true. My brother's moving in a month or two and wants a permanent house guest for when he's away. He said he'd be happy to let us live there and he'd take the shack on the same property. For a small rent, of course."

"Okay, what about an income?"

"We both have jobs."

"She's a theme park mermaid, and you're her fake manager." Rikki rolled her eyes. "That's not something to live on."

"Yeah, but I've been working with the research developers and they have a lot of opportunities for me in the 'nerdy science stuff' as you so love to call it. I'll make plenty once I pick a field."

Rikki sighed. "You obviously have all this figured out. So what do you need my advice for?"

Lewis stood still and sucked in a breath. "Where should I ask her? And how?"

She shrugged. "Do something cliché and predictable. She'll be eating right out of your hand."

"Rikki, I'm being serious here." He hung his head in frustration.

"So am I. Cleo is the queen of mushy stuff. Decorate a room with flowers. Sing a love song on the beach. Do... anything that would make me sick, and you'll be good to go." She left him with a condescending pat on the shoulder. "Good luck!"

_-x-_

Rikki tried to wrap her head around it, but it was no use. She didn't understand Lewis sometimes. Still, she had no doubt that Cleo would be over the moon about it. She supposed that was all that mattered. So long as Cleo was happy.

She knew she couldn't complain to Emma. She'd probably find something responsible and convenient about it, like it made good business sense. Or she'd take the opposite extreme, and try to talk Lewis out of it. As crazy as she thought it was, Rikki didn't want _that_. Cleo would kill her if she ever found out. And she had a funny way of always finding out.

There was only one person she could talk to about it without fear of repercussion.

Rikki brought dinner over for Zane, and explained the situation after they'd cleaned up and were kicking back on the couch.

"Isn't that the craziest thing you ever heard of?"

"Well, I don't know." He wrapped his arms around her, "Can't you see us running off to get married somewhere in secret? It would sure beat having to deal with my dad and his issues. Also make the guest list a cinch."

"I... guess. But I didn't think you were the marrying type."

"Where'd you get that idea?" he teased, "I wouldn't marry just anyone, you know. But it could solve the money problem, too."

"What are you talking about?"

"Well, if we're married, there's no yours or mine, right? Just a load of money to split between the two of us. You'd feel okay with that, right?"

"Yeah..." she smirked, having to admit it sounded more and more like a good idea.

They fell silent, both lost in their own private musings. Zane played with Rikki's hair, brushing it with his fingers.

"Hey…" she prodded after a few minutes. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"If you're thinking you should elope with me, the answer is definitely yes."

She grinned cheekily. "Do you want to swim there or fly, crazy?"

"Hang on," he said, shifting her off of him and running into the kitchen.

"Hey! I won't marry you if you won't be my pillow!" she shouted.

"Just gimme a sec!"

Zane returned with his hands clasped behind his back and a smug look plastered on his face.

He got down on one knee, ignoring the torn expression on Rikki's face between amusement and sheer bewilderment. He held out the twisty tie for a loaf of bread that he'd made into the shape of a ring.

"Rikki, my darling, I don't have much in this world..."

"Liar..." she muttered with a smile, and he shushed her. "Please. Let me say what I need to say. The very little that I own in this world is yours, if you'll have me. Will you marry me? Even if I can't afford a huge diamond ring just yet?"

She shook her head, but it was in disbelief, not refusal. "Get off the floor and kiss me," she demanded.

Zane quickly obeyed, first slipping the plastic tie onto the appropriate finger. She chuckled at him. "You are impossible, you know that?"

"Get used to it, Future Mrs. Bennet," he said, kissing the bridge of her nose.

"Hang on, I never said yes," she teased.

He shushed her with a kiss on the mouth. "Yes you did," and then he kissed her again, leaving no room for objection. "Your eyes _definitely_ said yes."


	21. Chapter 21

**Author's Notes:** I am deeply, deeply sorry that I am so late with this! I didn't get the chapter sent to my Beta in time, and then I had a really long shift at work, so I'm only now able to upload it with the stamp of approval! I will admit being very emotional about this chapter, so I do hope you all like it.

* * *

**xxi**

Lewis never realised how busy Mako Island was.

He thought it was the perfect setting for a proposal. The cave was magical in just the right moonlight, with the natural waterfall creating a romantic ambience as it trickled down the cavern walls and spilled into the mystical moon pool. It was fitting to ask Cleo to become his girl for life in the same place that transformed them so completely.

There was just one problem.

Everyone else thought Mako was magical, too. All of a sudden, he couldn't get Cleo alone there. It had always been a sanctuary for the three girls, and he understood that, but now it seemed they congregated there every afternoon. And he had to set up the moon cave for his big presentation!

He wanted to surprise her; a proposal wasn't supposed to be _planned_ on her side, so he couldn't ask her to stay away without causing suspicion. She should just show up to be pampered and then met with the surprise of a lifetime. Unfortunately, the others didn't think of that.

Rikki knew what he was planning. There was no way she didn't with her smirks and chuckles sent his way whenever he became especially exasperated that yet another attempted decoration of the cave was set back by Cleo devising a picnic there—for all three couples.

He pleaded with Rikki to help him out.

"Just this once, don't come to Cleo's party! Please! I'm at my wits end, trying to make everything work, and this is a perfect opportunity."

"I guess. Since you're so desperate..." she yielded with amusement. "But how are you going to surprise her if she thinks she's setting up for her own picnic?"

"Ah. I was also hoping you could help me with that."

_-x-_

"But why do we have to stop here? I have a picnic to set up for!" Cleo was impatient as Rikki dragged her into yet another second hand store.

"Because I wanted to go shopping with you—that's why. You said yourself we don't hang out enough anymore."

"Hey, look at this," Emma said. She was in on the secret too, now. She pointed at a display case of jewellery, her finger on the glass.

"Ew, that choker is hideous!" Rikki gawked.

"Yeah, but it's still nicer than anything I can afford."

Cleo was standing still, staring at something that had caught her eye.

"What are you looking at, Cleo?" Emma asked.

"That ring," she said.

"Why? You want someone to buy it for you?" Rikki joked, jabbing Emma's side with her elbow. Emma shook her off and made warning eyes at her.

"No, I just... was thinking."

Emma stole a glance at the ring in question. "You don't want that one." She listed several reasons why it was inferior to other rings she'd seen around, "...and it's more pricey than it's worth."

"I wasn't interested in _that_ ring! I just..." she shrugged. "Don't you girls ever think of how nice it would be? To get married, I mean."

Rikki snorted. "Sure."

Cleo rolled her eyes and playfully smacked her arm. "You may not be a romantic, Rikki, but _I_ think it's a great idea!"

Rikki tried not to give herself away. "What? I'm not saying there's anything wrong with your wedding dreams! I just have different ones."

Hers were already fulfilled. In fact, she and Zane had made it official with some help from mermaid magic and less strict marriage laws across the ocean. It was simple, and private, and she wouldn't have done it any other way, despite the big event Cleo would have wanted to make it. But she wasn't going to sabotage Lewis's plans with her own announcement. She could wait until Cleo was done gushing. And considering Cleo that could be a while.

"Ah! It's _so_ late!" she suddenly cried. "I'll never get there on time!"

"It's okay, Cleo," Emma comforted her, "It was just us, anyway. And I'm sure the guys won't care about decorations."

"But I care!" she cried, "I wanted to do something nice for all of us. Where's Rikki?" she asked, head darting back and forth for her missing friend, "We have to get going."

"The toilet, I think," Emma shrugged. "I'm sure she'll be along in a minute."

Rikki was actually sneaking a call to Lewis, using the toilets as cover.

"Can you hear me? Okay, she's getting antsy. Are you almost finished? Right. I've _got_ this, Lewis! Trust me. She has no idea."

_-x-_

"Good thing we swim fast!" Rikki smiled when they returned with all their purchases. Cleo was practically dancing from foot to foot in anxiousness.

Cleo huffed sullenly. "Swimming doesn't _help_, Rikki! I have to take all this stuff by boat, remember?" she gestured to the shopping bags slung over her arms.

"Riiiight. Okay, well you should go scope it out."

"What for? I know what it looks like."

"Yeah, but what if your vision changed, or you want to make sure we don't bring too much stuff?" Rikki prodded.

"That's actually a good idea," Emma agreed. "You go now and decide where to put everything, and we'll be along with the boat as soon as we can."

"Are you sure?" She looked hesitant.

"Go!" Rikki cried, "Go to Mako Island!"

Cleo laughed. "Alright! Just... don't be long!"

Rikki chuckled darkly. "Of course not."

-x-

Something was different. Cleo could sense—or maybe smell it as her head came up at the edge of the moon pool. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the change.

The first thing she noticed was the candles. Dozens of them; all different sizes, set in holders, cups, or even on dishes to catch the melting wax. They turned the natural glow of the moon pool orange, and made the place feel warm and comforting. They also smelled faintly of vanilla.

A full dinner was spread out over a blanket, including a combination of Cleo's favourite drinks and sweeties. White rose petals were strewn around the shore, and just to the right of the blanket was a large heart shaped from red petals.

And in the middle of it all was Lewis, dressed to the nines and looking quite shy. He smiled nervously at her, as if caught in the act.

"Hi."

"Lewis?" she smiled back, "What is all this?"

"I thought it seemed like a nice night for a picnic."

"Yeah, so did I, but my idea was a little different from yours."

"Disappointed?" he asked seriously.

Cleo laughed. "No, but I am under dressed."

"Ah. Rikki said you might want to change." He pointed to an evening gown in purple and gold, kept stable by the hanger trapped on a jutting rock.

"So that's why Rikki and Emma didn't want to leave the shops," she realised. "You made them your accomplices, didn't you?"

"Maybe," he smirked.

During their dinner, Lewis was particularly distracted. Cleo complimented the candles, the food, his tuxedo, and his cleverness for putting it all together without her knowledge, and at each compliment he sighed a long breath of relief. He also kept fiddling with his tux.

"Is there a problem with the fit?" Cleo asked, nibbling on her third jelly slice.

"What?" he said with a start. "No... I mean, I hope not. We can get it resized, but... Wait! How did you...?" he had a moment of panic, and then expelled another anxious sigh, "Oh, you mean the suit! No, it's fine."

Cleo leaned in a little closer, "Lewis, is everything okay? You seem a little unwell. Did something weird happen with your powers? You can tell me," she said in earnest.

Lewis shook his head to cover a laugh. "No, it isn't that." He stood up and began to pace back and forth at the edge of the moon pool. "Hang on. I have to make sure it's still there."

Cleo waited in serious concern while he turned his back and fiddled with something from his pocket. A plunking sound alerted her to a small object falling into the moon pool.

Lewis was beside himself with frustration. "No! Oh, I can't believe it!"

"What? What is it? I'll help you look!" she offered.

"No, Cleo, you can't!" He angrily tugged at the ends of his hair. "Augh, hang on. I'll fish it out of there."

Cleo scooted to the edge of the pool, feeling stranger and stranger. She worried about his suit, which was most likely a rental, remembering after a second that mermaid magic usually rendered their clothing back to normal as soon as they dried. His merman state helped him glide straight to the bottom of the pool where his precious item had sunk.

He emerged, holding it over his head as he shook the water from his hair. It was tiny, silver, and clasped tightly between his two fingers. Cleo was about to take it from him to stash it some place safe, but when she saw what it was, she was frozen in surprise.

A diamond ring. One perfect round stone with a circle of tiny diamonds around it, sparkling in the candlelight, and dripping unfortunately from its time in the pool.

"Lewis..." she swallowed, "Is that a...?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, Cleo," he said as if he'd ruined it all, "It wasn't supposed to go like this. I had a whole speech planned, and a presentation... but the speech was in my pocket, and now you've already seen the ring..." He looked so upset, Cleo wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

"Lewis," she stopped him, cupping his face in her hands and not caring that she was about to grow a tail from the contact, "It's _perfect_."

"Really?" he brightened, "It's not too small or anything?"

"No! It's gorgeous! But you know, you didn't actually ask me, yet."

Lewis slipped the ring on the appropriate finger, fairly confident what her answer would be. "I'd get down on one knee since I know you like that, but it's going to be a little tricky, given the circumstances." He scowled at his tail and shirtlessness.

Cleo giggled and shifted forward as best she could, dragging her tail behind her. "I'll pretend you're on one knee. Go on..." she poked him with one finger, as the rest were trapped in his hands.

"Cleo Sertori," he asked, and her grin was already turning her face bright pink, "Will you marry me?"

The words were barely out before she attacked him gleefully. She managed to squeak a hurried, "Yes!" in between her excited kisses. Soon they were both in the moon pool, and Lewis was glad that their magic allowed them to hold their breath for so long.

Because now he was going to kiss Cleo for a very long time.


	22. Chapter 22

**Author's Notes:** I am aware that the lateness of this chapter is _deplorable_, and the fact that I warned all reviewers of its lateness does not make up for it. But I'm catching up little by little, and Wednesday should have me returned to my regular posting schedule. Thank you for your patience! And impatience, which is equally as flattering! Thanks for reading, and being a delightful bunch of people. :)

* * *

**xxii**

Engaged life was less of a catastrophic change than Cleo expected. In most ways, she and Lewis carried on as always. His caring and protective nature didn't explode into paranoia and possession, and her continual support didn't veer into neediness or extravagance.

Even work was much the same. The dolphins seemed to pick up on her extreme cheerfulness, but they were always more in tune to her moods. And she wasn't too late to her mermaid hours in the tank. She'd only done a _few_ extra loops around Ronny.

The girls weren't surprised, being in on the secret as Lewis needed their help. Emma was happy for them, of course, but not enough to be distracted from her own daily troubles, and Rikki—as always—made fun of them and their sweet talking every chance she got.

Mr. Sertori, however, was less than thrilled.

"You're way too young, Cleo! It'll never last!" he said with a tone akin to desperation.

Cleo sat by him on the couch and put a comforting hand on his shoulder, "Dad, we're not like..." she stopped herself short, thinking of his recent divorce, "...other couples."

"Not like me and your mum, you mean." He sighed at her unwillingness to deny it. "Look, I know you and Lewis are two different people, but I still think you're way too young!"

"But why? What else do we need to prove we're old enough?" She went over the house, their financial situation, and many of the same things Lewis had used to persuade Rikki.

Mr. Sertori just sat and shook his head, staring blankly at the ground. "I just can't believe it."

"You'll give your consent... won't you Dad?" Cleo pleaded softly.

"I... I guess I can't hold on to you forever. I do love you, Cleo. I just don't want you to make a big mistake that could ruin your life."

"Lewis could never ruin my life," she smiled, meaning every word she said.

He hugged her. "Alright, sweetheart. But it's only because of _you_. He better not push any of my buttons in the meantime."

Cleo nodded. "Course not."

But one looming event was cause for her to lose sleep, and that was meeting Lewis's family.

She knew his brother, Lenny of course; she knew most of his family by name, but she hadn't seen them in ages. The reasons for that—she was sure—was entirely the boys' own fault.

When she and Lewis were two-years-solid-best-mates-from-school, he invited her over to his house for the afternoon—with Mrs. McCartney's permission, of course. Mr. Sertori drove Cleo up to the brick house, telling her to behave as she hopped out of the car. She tugged nervously on one of the pigtails her mum had done for her. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to _behave_, but she would try.

Two sandy-haired boys came racing around the side of the house, shouting at each other while brandishing sticks. They were the exact same height and wore the same clothes except for a slight difference in shirt colour. If Cleo hadn't heard Lewis talk about them before, she might have thought they were the same person.

"Hey! There's a girl in the yard!" one of them pointed, and the other screamed, "_Mum!_" and dashed inside, still slicing the stick through the air.

Mrs. McCartney hurried out, wiping her wet hands on a ruffled apron. "Lonny, what did I tell you about bringing sticks into the house? Cleo!" she ushered her in with welcoming arms. "Come on in, love. Oh, you brought your backpack! What do you have in there?"

"Crayons," she squeaked.

"That's so nice! I think Lewis has a colouring book with turtles in it. I'm sure he'd let you use it. Would you like that?"

Cleo nodded shyly. She kept peeking around the corners of the kitchen, but she couldn't see Lewis. She heard his voice though, coming from the room with the biggest boy in it.

"Logan, get _off_!" Lewis cried. Something like a scuffle was going on, hidden from Cleo's view by a large sofa. She heard a thud, and Lewis wail, "_Muuuum!_ Logan bit me!"

"Logan, I've had more than enough of you today! Go to your room until you can be polite around company."

"Company? Who's here?" The oldest boy paused in his guitar practice to peer at Cleo. "Oh," he shrugged. "Just Lewis's girlfriend."

Logan laughed and scrambled over the top of the couch to come face to face with Cleo. "Girlfriend?"

The twins, who had abandoned their swordplay for the time being started chanting in unison, "Lewis has a girlfriend! Lewis has a girlfriend!"

"Ow!" The twin with the darker shirt whinged, bearing the brunt of Lewis's pinching. Cleo looked up, hoping to catch his attention. Lewis squeezed through his two brothers and waved. "Hi, Cleo."

"_Hiiiiii Cleooooo!"_ The other twin sang in a high pitch. "_Let's get maaaaarried!"_

"Boys," their mother said, exasperated beyond reason, "Stop pestering your brother! Lewis, why don't you take Cleo to your room, and show her your new colouring books? No!" she stopped one boy short by grabbing the back of his shirt, "Not you, Logan!"

"It's my room, too!"

"Not for the next hour, it's not."

"But you just said...!"

"I've change my mind," she answered sharply. "Go do your sums at the kitchen table, instead."

Knowing that the punishment would be even worse if he argued, Logan shuffled off to get his homework.

"Why can Lewis have his girlfriend over, and I can't?" the oldest boy grumbled.

"Because Lewis is a nice boy, and you're nothing but a player, Larry McCartney. When you do your chores on time, I'll let you bring girls over."

For the rest of the day, Cleo stuck to Lewis's side like a barnacle on a boat. The other boys were noisy and jumped on furniture and took Lewis's things without asking. They weren't always _mean_, but of all of them, Lewis was definitely the nicest. He tried to shoo Logan out when he told Cleo she was using the wrong colour green on the turtle picture. He showed her his secret seashell collection that had a lock, and he told her where he kept the key so even Larry couldn't find it. He even gave her his second cookie when the plate of goodies Mrs. McCartney left out disappeared too fast for Cleo to get anything.

But try as he might, he couldn't stop the teasing.

It was still going strong when Mr. Sertori came to pick Cleo up.

"Have fun?" he grinned, just barely missing someone's cry of, "Goodbye, Lewis's girlfriend!"

Cleo nodded.

"The boys weren't too rowdy, were they?" Mrs. McCartney asked, bending closer to Cleo and bopping her on the nose.

Cleo shook her head. She wasn't sure what that meant, but she was afraid saying anything bad would mean she couldn't play with Lewis again.

"Good," she smiled, "I wouldn't want them to scare you away. You're Lewis's first girlfriend, you know."

"What?!" Mr. Sertori turned a funny shade of red.

"Oh, the boys were teasing. We don't have many young girls at the house, so of course they'd assume..."

"Assume what? That my seven year old daughter has a boyfriend? Your son?!"

"It's all in good fun," she assured him, but he only scowled in return. Mr. Sertori bid her an uncomfortable goodbye and hurried his daughter away.

Since then, he had always found an excuse not to let Cleo visit the McCartney's house, and Lewis had come to theirs instead. It was an arrangement they had never really questioned until now, and Cleo was restless with images of how the reunion would play out.

All of them would be at Lenny's house, save the eldest. Larry was touring the States with his band. He was a nobody in his hometown, but across the Pacific an Australian guitarist was apparently a big deal.

Lenny would be there, of course, and so would his troublesome twin, Lonny. Logan was taking a week off from his work at the veterinary clinic and bringing his wife.

Looking back, Cleo had to admit that more had changed than she'd imagined. It had been gradual, and unassuming, but her feelings for Lewis had certainly grown since that long ago day when his family decided she was his girlfriend.

His first, his only, his last.

The next morning, Cleo made sure to meet him a little earlier than usual. She greeted him with a long kiss that was meant to convey her gratitude.

"Good morning to you, too," he said, wrapping his arms around her for warmth, as a breeze was picking up.

"Thank you," she sighed, hands folded at his neck.

"For what?"

"For hanging out with an awkward little girl, even though it wasn't cool. For always sharing your secrets with me. And..." she smirked, "for never telling your brothers that I _wasn't_ your girlfriend."

"Are you kidding!? Cleo, you were always the one who made_ me_ look cool! If it wasn't for you, my brothers would never let me get away with being the geeky one. Being able to say, 'I'm going to Cleo's to study,' shut them all up about my lack of athleticism or other manly traits."

Cleo giggled. "Really?"

"Yeah. It had its downside, though. The only time I ever punched someone was when Lonny called you a babe and asked if you were available."

Cleo gasped and squeezed him a little tighter. "You're just the right amount of manly for me, Lewis."

He kissed her forehead—a favourite spot of his to inflict his affection. "So do you think you'll be okay seeing all of them tomorrow?"

She snuggled into him. "You're coming with me. So I'll be perfect."


	23. Chapter 23

**Author's Note:** It is not quite 12am, so I'm not late yet! :) Due warning: one of our favourite couples gets a little bit frisky in this chapter. But they're married now, so it's okay. Heheh...

* * *

**xxiii**

Emma was concerned about Rikki. She'd always been weird about her house, and financial straits, but lately things seemed to be getting worse.

For one, Rikki never ordered juice with the girls. She insisted she was full; she said she had all kinds of fresh fruit for breakfast and decided she liked it better that way rather than blended together like baby food.

"No offense," she scoffed at Cleo, who merely shrugged, uncaring, and took a longer sip of her smoothie.

Emma was certain she was hiding something due to pride.

As soon as she was free, Emma pulled Cleo into her conference and confronted Rikki about her concerns.

"Rikki, something's going on with you and you need to tell us."

"Tell you what?" She eyed Cleo with suspicion who shrugged in honest innocence.

"She just dragged me here and said it was important. I thought she was going to announce an engagement or something."

"No, this isn't about weddings, Cleo! I think Rikki's in trouble."

Cleo gasped. "Are you? Were you selling tropical fish again? We'll sort that guy out in a heartbeat..."

"No, and I have no idea where you get your crazy ideas, Em."

Emma flicked her hair back. "Answer me this, then. How come we never go to your place?"

Cleo cocked her head, suddenly interested in Rikki's answer.

"Because you've always been the go-to girl for a great party?" she tried, over-exaggerating her cheerfulness.

"Nice try. But I know that's not the truth. Honestly, Rikki, you can tell us. We're your best friends."

"Wait," Cleo realised, "I haven't even been to your house."

"Guys, give it a rest! I don't even live there anymore!"

Emma grew stone silent and sat down hard. "Rikki..." she took a deep breath. "Are you homeless?"

Cleo dropped her cup on the table and whipped her head around.

"What? No!" Rikki protested.

Emma rattled on. "You don't have to be ashamed. We'll help you out as best we can... You can stay with me!"

"I'm not staying with you. I _have_ a home, okay? I'm living with Zane."

"What?!" Emma was incredulous. "You moved _in_ with him?"

"Rikki!" Cleo shrieked.

"When did this happen?"

"Right after we got married," she said casually. "Geeze, what are you? My mother?"

Cleo's shriek was more out of excitement, now. "RIKKI!"

"You're _married!?"_

"Yeah. It wasn't a big deal."

"Not a big deal? Of course it is!" Cleo said, "Can you... do that without signatures?"

"Not here. So we went somewhere we could."

"When did you have the time for that?" Emma continued.

"You don't need a lot of time when you can swim faster than an airplane. Mermaid powers, remember?"

"But how did you get Zane there?"

"He sat in the boat, and I dragged it along in the water."

"Unbelievable," Emma grumbled. "You didn't think to invite your best friends to the wedding?"

Although less accusatory than Emma, Cleo looked slightly affronted as well. "Yeah, you're both _in_ my wedding! And we could have swum along!"

"Don't take it badly," she asked of them. "We didn't invite anyone, okay?"

Cleo shrugged away her disappointment, "But still, Rikki! I'm so happy for you!"

"Yeah, well you don't have to hug it out." Rikki pushed Cleo off of her, although she was clearly smiling. "So enough about me. How was your time with the McCartney clan?"

"It was _so_ great!" she gushed. "We played one of Larry's CD's, and Logan's wife makes the most delicious desserts. She's a doctor! Or... she's going to be. And I can't _believe_ how Lonny grew up! He's the tallest of them all, now! Everyone was so nice. Lenny's sore because Lewis is getting married before he is... oh! And the picture we coloured together is still hanging in Lewis's old room!"

Rikki elbowed Emma's side. "She's going on like we're supposed to know who all these people are."

Emma shushed her with a quiet chuckle.

"It was really hard not turning into a mermaid, though," Cleo went on. "It seemed like there was a spill or major splash every couple of minutes. But Lewis learned a new trick from it!"

"I _never_ want to hear about this in another context," Rikki warned, "Just so you know."

Emma shuddered, "Ew, Rikki, why did you even have to say that?"

"_Anyway_," Cleo glared at them both, "He found out that with his powers, he can move the water away from me! Kind of like... a shield, I guess."

"Great. Lewis the shield."

"Is that jealousy I hear in your tone?" Cleo teased.

"Not a bit. I think I'll head home early and see what tricks _my_ man can do."

Cleo furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, but Emma caught the gist of Rikki's meaning and tossed a dry rag at her. "Clean your table first, won't you?"

"No way! I'm a paying customer, too!"

"I'll do it," Cleo laughed as she picked up the towel. "I _just_ got what you meant, Rikki."

_-x-_

When she entered the house, Rikki was met with the delightful smell of fish and chips which she soon found laid out on the table on fancy china along with soft drinks in wine glasses. A vase full of several bouquets worth was the centrepiece to the meal. She shook her head. Her husband was definitely the romantic.

"Hey, beautiful," Zane said, welcoming her home with a kiss.

"Hey. What's all this for?" she asked with moderate suspicion. "Did you do something you need to apologise for?"

"I hope not..." he thought for a moment. "Not that I can think of. But maybe I'm just getting a head start." She found his smirk absolutely charming. "I was going to cook, but Wilfred kept me on the phone for a few hours about expanding the JuiceNet. Next time, I'll do stir fry."

"Well, it looks like you went through a lot of trouble to put take away food on the table," she teased, kissing him back with a mischievous smile. "I thought maybe there was a special reason."

"You are the special reason," he stated without irony. Rikki was about to laugh, but he said it so seriously, that she could only duck her head and blush. She was still totally unused to earnest compliments and was never sure how to respond. Zane always said she didn't have to say anything. It was just her job to accept his honest flattery along with all the clothes and jewellery he wanted to shower her with.

_That_ statement was easier to respond to with sarcasm.

"We should eat before it gets cold," she dodged, but Zane could see she was more than pleased.

"Whenever I've rendered you speechless, I know I've done a good job," he prided himself as he settled into his seat.

"Don't get a big head yet," she warned. "I haven't tasted the fish."

Zane had nothing to fear, as he'd gone out of his way to get dinner from Rikki's favourite take-away. It was obvious how successful he'd been when she emptied her plate within ten minutes.

"You might want to wash your hands," he commented after the dishes were stacked by the sink. "Those were pretty greasy."

"Look at you, Mr. Stodgy! Greasy hands never bothered you before," she laughed at him.

"Yeah, but I've got a present for you that I think you'll want to have clean hands for."

"Really? Another one! Didn't you just buy me a coffeemaker?" she pointed to the shiny black machine gracing their kitchen counter.

"This is better than a coffeemaker," he grinned in earnest.

"I doubt there's anything better than that miracle maker, but I've got nothing against testing it out. Come on," she held out her hand, "Give it."

Zane took her hand, and instead of putting something inside it, slipped a ring onto her finger, sliding it against the twisty tie she never took off.

"Zane! It's _huge_!" she whinged. "I might knock someone over by accident!"

"You don't have to wear it all the time," he assured her. "I know it's big. I just wanted you to have something more... substantial for a ring. This one says, 'I belong to Zane Bennet and he knows how to take care of me.'"

"But so does this," she said, fingering the twist tie. "And so does this."

She pulled his head down to better reach him and his lips. As biting as their conversation often was, they were slow and temperate lovers in every other aspect of their marriage. Zane rarely liked to rush things, but kissed her deeply, skimming her cheek and shoulders with his hands before escalating his ravishment.

Rikki stopped for breath, and to undo the first two of Zane's shirt buttons, and soon he was carrying her up the stairs to finish what they'd begun.

Rikki flexed her fingers experimentally.

The ring wasn't heavy like she thought. In fact, it felt just right.


	24. Chapter 24

**xxiv**

Emma was _not_ jealous. She berated herself for thinking she might be when Cleo brought out all her magazine clippings and colour swatches for her wedding plans. She told herself she was being unreasonable when Rikki showed off the two karat stone in a ring of other sizable diamonds and felt compelled to say something dismissive and nonchalant while Cleo practically swooned over it. But she bit her tongue and joined in the ogling.

She had always been the steady one of the bunch. Rikki had a flair for the reckless and impulsive, and Cleo was easily caught up in romantic dreams. There was nothing _too_ impractical about either of their situations; Rikki was now set up for life, and there was never going to be anyone but Lewis for Cleo, so why not start the rest of their lives now?

But Emma... Emma just wanted things to be comfortable. Safe. Steady. Nothing about an immediate marriage screamed any of those things to her. It just meant more complications. Guest lists. Invites. Decorations. Worst of all, _change_.

She felt a pang of loneliness as the happy chatter of her two best friends increased. She was happy for them—really!—but the truth of the matter was, she would never quite understand until she too was in the throes of romance.

She wasn't looking for romance, excitement, or anything but companionship and a job to do when she ended up at Ash's riding school.

Well, not_ his_ school, though he practically ran it, now that his Dad was looking to retire.

Emma grabbed a pitchfork and started to muck out Rebel's stall.

"He still won't let anyone else ride him," Ash said as he leaned over the door. Emma had been so lost in her thoughts that she hadn't heard him enter the stables.

"Yeah, well he's not very useful if he's not helping with lessons."

"Horses have more than one use," he uttered in a hush, chin resting on his folded arms.

Emma paused in her work. "What do you mean?"

"Why do you think our kid's days are such a hit?" he answered by way of question. "It's not just to develop a new hobby or skill. Riding teaches dedication, responsibility, and patience, as well." He opened the stall and joined her in grooming Rebel. "You seem tense, lately."

"I'm not impatient," she blew a hair out of her face, looking anything _but_ patient. "Am I?"

He shrugged in amusement. "You tell me."

"I don't want all this change happening at once," she burst out. "I want things to stay the same forever, but I know they can't. Rikki's marriage... Cleo's wedding... I know they're happy, but it's a lot, and I wish we could just go back to things were easy and comfortable."

"You mean before you became mermaids?"

Emma paused in her brushing. "Well... no."

"Because I don't know that things have ever been easy between the three of you. I haven't known you a _really_ long time, but for as long as I have, you three have been inseparable. I don't know what you were like before the change, but it seems like that kind of thing would make you closer."

"Sure. Rikki didn't really have any friends before we all got stuck with tails. And Cleo was afraid of everything in the water."

"What about you?"

"I'm not as anxious to make everything a competition, I guess. I'm really glad we have something so special. Even if it means no more swim trophies or diving competitions. We're out of school now and getting older. Those other things aren't as important. The girls are, though. I want us to always be together as best friends."

"And no one says you can't," he remarked.

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying, not all change is bad. Your transformation brought you together, and it'd be silly if something as normal as married life split you up. Now if you go on some European tour on the other hand..."

"Why would I do that?" she made a face at him. "I just finished telling you I don't want things to change!"

"Alright!" he chuckled. "And I'm saying even though it's inevitable, it can be for the better."

"Okay, but just... promise me there'll be no surprise parties for a while, okay?"

"Deal," he smiled, and gave her hand a squeeze.

_-x-_

Rikki hated everything. She hated her favourite juice. She hated the smell of frying seafood and only ate fresh fish out of the ocean. She hated that anytime Zane said something particularly sweet—and that seemed to be a lot lately—she ended up wiping tears from her eyes and pretending to have the onset of a head cold.

But most of all, she hated that she wasn't ready for what it all meant.

At first, it was nothing. Strange symptoms, weird cravings; no different from her monthly problem, or a particularly strong moon fever. But then she missed a certain something that was usually right on the dot, and she began to wonder...

After agonising over her suspicions for days without a decision, she finally took the test to confirm them.

She was still sitting in stunned silence on the floor of the toilet when Zane came looking for her.

"Hey, are you okay? I haven't seen you since lunch, and..." he stopped short when he saw what was in her hand.

"It's positive," she mumbled, unable to tear her eyes away from the proof.

"Whoa... Rikki... You're not...?" He began as a question, but the evidence was clear in her features. "You're not joking. This... wow."

"I know! I just... how could we not think of this before?"

"We haven't exactly _prepared_ for this, have we?"

"No kidding! What are we going to do?"

Zane passed a hand over his face in deep thought for a moment. "I... honestly have no idea."

"Zane!"

Frantic for a solution of any sort, he blurted, "Let me ask Lewis, okay?"

"_No_ way! Not until I tell the girls! They'd kill me if he knew before them. But I'm not ready to tell anyone, yet!" Her face fell and she began to cry. "I've been transforming all this time. What if I hurt it? What if I hurt the... the baby? Our _baby_, Zane!"

A lump seized in Zane's throat, and for a while he couldn't answer but only watched helplessly as his resilient wife had an emotional breakdown beside the toilet.

Finally, he swallowed and said, "The little bloke in there has tough parents. I'm sure the changing forms wouldn't matter." He almost added a weak, "Right?" for reassurance, but stopped himself just in time. Rikki needed _his_ reassurance, not the other way around.

"Hey," he said, stealing to her side, and taking her by the shoulders, "It's gonna be fine. We've got the money and the time; I'll research, and... we'll figure things out. In the meantime, just think of all the ways your rich husband is going to spoil you for carrying the next Bennet heir."

Rikki laughed through her sniffling at Zane's attempt to cheer her up. He helped her off the floor, and went straight for the computer.

"What are you doing?" Rikki asked.

"Getting a head start."

She peered over his shoulder, smacking the back of his head at his first internet search: _names for baby guppies_.

* * *

**Author's Notes:** Tsk. Tsk. Looks like Rikki and her man were so busy gettin' frisky that they didn't think about the consequences. Such impulsive young folk! But they'll make such adorable babies, it's impossible to be mad at them. :)


	25. Chapter 25

**Author's Notes:** Well. This would have been posted a few hours earlier, but apparently I lack the brain capacity to write a satisfying ending line, and had to ask my Beta to do so. Thirty seconds later, this chapter was finished. :)

I never announced my breaking 100 reviews last time! So I will mentioned it now! Thank you so much, all of you! I know I'm late with some updates, and I don't' always get around to replying to all your reviews, but I really appreciate the time you take with each and every one.

Huzzah for 100+ reviews, and on to the chapter!

* * *

**xxv**

Cleo grabbed Rikki's hands to stop her from smoothing down her dress for the fifteenth time in so many minutes. "Rikki! Stop that! Your dress isn't growing wrinkles while you wait. Relax. You look great!"

Rikki _had_ been wary of the floral print. And the small ruffle on the neckline. _And_ several colours of pink being so prominent in her dress. After she'd put it on in front of the mirror, she thought it wasn't all that bad, and maybe Cleo wasn't _completely_ nuts when she'd picked the dresses. But none of those were her main concern.

"She's afraid she's too fat for it, now," Emma teased, carrying a satchel full of makeup and a miniature sewing kit into the changing room. She was in a dress of the same cut, but of a different pattern; large blue flowers and softer greens on white.

"What?" Rikki started. She hadn't told the girls about her little guppy yet. She wanted to wait until Cleo's big day so there would be no distractions for her. So far, she thought she was doing well at hiding her condition, but if Emma caught on because of her dress fitting a little too snugly... She didn't _think_ she was showing, yet!

"I'm kidding," Emma laughed. "And shouldn't we be the ones telling Cleo she looks great? She's the one who's getting married."

Cleo shrugged, perfectly at ease. "I'm so relaxed, I feel like I could do this any day! You have been _amazing_, Emma. I could never do this without you. And you too, Rikki."

"I haven't done much," she said, "Just showed up for the dinners and gloated about the JuiceNet catering success. Emma did all the organising."

"Yeah, but you both being here means a lot to me." Cleo grew emotional and wiped the back of her hand across her face.

"Okay," Rikki exclaimed, taking her by the shoulders and sitting her down. "Let's not start the water works just yet. You'll ruin your makeup."

"I guess I am a little worried," she confessed, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief Emma produced from the endless bag of accessories. "What if Lenny or Lonny play a prank, and gets one of us wet? Or what if I spill something? Or my cousin plays in the ocean and then runs past me, splashing water everywhere? I'll turn into a mermaid on my most important day."

"I've got you covered there, as well," Emma smiled secretively.

"What?"

Rikki looked dubious. "You got a magic wand in there or something?"

"No. But I do have Lewis's waterproof spray."

Cleo took the can and appraised it with wariness. "Didn't this turn us into clowns last time?"

"Yes. Which is why he perfected it on his test subject."

"Aww, really? He is _so_ sweet and thoughtful!"

Emma coughed, and Cleo corrected herself. "I mean, you're all so sweet for doing this!"

"Yeah, well Rikki didn't want to test it this time. Said something about it not being 'safe.' I thought you were the wild one, who liked living on the edge" she directed to Rikki.

"Maybe I changed!" she said with a smile. "Now who's ready for a wedding?"

-x-

"Hey, mate. Are you crying?"

Lewis shook his head and elbowed Zane with some force, making him laugh even more. He wasn't _crying_ he was just... a little bit choked up at the moment.

"Don't worry," Zane said, "I cried at my wedding. Could barely say, 'I do,' and we didn't even have an audience. So I can't imagine how messed up you must be right now."

"Oh, thank you so much," Lewis muttered.

"Yeah, no problem. Always here for you." He was evidently enjoying himself.

The same could not be said of Kim, who sat in the front row of white folding chairs with a scowl plastered on her face. Cleo offered to make her a flower girl, but she refused to be in the wedding unless she could be a bridesmaid and walk down with _both_ the boys she liked.

Cleo gave a decided no, and Kim was no longer part of the bridal party.

Lewis regained a sense of normalcy at the sour face Kim shot at him, and hoped she wasn't planning on wrecking anything in revenge. He was glad he'd taken precautions in stabilising his formula for the waterproof compound he created. He was glad Cleo didn't have to worry about _that_ at least. He was glad...

Nate started to strum a soft love song on the guitar to announce the ceremony's beginning, and Lewis's head snapped up to attention.

The area of the beach they were able to claim was small, and the aisle was little more than a walkway between the rows of chairs, so the groomsmen stood at Lewis's side while the ladies walked down alone.

Rikki went first, trying not to frown in concentration as she counted her steps to slow them. Cleo warned her not to go to fast. She barely kept down a sigh of relief as she made it to the end right on cue.

Emma gave Cleo's gown one more appraisal. She too had a floral design, but it elegantly faded into the soft chiffon, unlike the bridesmaids' more vibrant colours. The gown had no straps, and a sweetheart cut, and not really a train to speak of so Emma had little to adjust. Somehow, she found things anyway. She took a good hard look at the flower pinned in Cleo's hair, and finally decided she was ready.

Cleo felt like she was made up of bubbles, like she did just before transforming. The weather was gorgeous—maybe a little cool, or perhaps the gooseflesh up and down her arms was from excitement.

Just as she wondered if she _was_ transforming, or about to float away with the breeze, Lewis came forward two extra steps to take her hand.

Everyone was smiling. Even Nate and Sophie, who were now situated conveniently in the same row. Even Kim, who despite her grudge, had just begun to realise that Cleo's room would now be vacant.

Mr. Sertori was making a brave effort not to cry, but still he smiled.

The McCartney boys had constructed a simple arbour, and the girls bedecked it with flowers for the occasion. All around her, Cleo could hear and smell and sense the ocean; something that once terrified her more than anything, but had become a place of safety—a sanctuary.

Lewis looked so serious at the moment... she couldn't help it. She knew she was supposed to wait for the celebrant to announce them as married, but she stood a little taller on tip-toe and kissed his cheek.

And then he took his hand in hers with a gentle squeeze of encouragement, and they were married.


	26. Chapter 26

**Author's Notes:** Well, I have quite a surprise for you all! I sat down to write this chapter and realised... I don't have anything more to do with the story! I've accomplished everything I set out to do. I brought Zikki and Clewis back together, made some mermen, got rid of Charlotte, kept the dream team from splitting up, and even gave Emma and Ash some cute moments. I've never been one to prolong an ending just for the sake of word count, so besides an **Epilogue**, this is my last update! I'm sorry I didn't give further warning. I really didn't know this was the end until I started to write it.

I really hope you've all enjoyed the journey! I know I didn't make leaps and bounds with any kind of original story, but all I wanted was a nice and happy ending for H2O that didn't have hundreds of words of angst. That, I accomplished, and I'm completely satisfied with it. As I said, there will be an Epilogue, but no more. If I get special requests for unanswered questions or fluff scenes, I may consider writing them, but unfortunately, I can't guarantee anything.

Thank you all again and again for reading and reviewing!

* * *

**xxvi**

Cleo declined the offer of a honeymoon. Lewis was convinced it was a woman's trap, and he was meant to decide on some exotic getaway to surprise her with, but she promised she was perfectly happy moving in to their new home right away.

"Besides, we can always swim to Mako, or anywhere we want, really," she said.

So Lewis left it at that, and began the process of helping Cleo clear out her closet for the move. It soon became clear that his main duties consisted of distracting Mr. Sertori and Kim; the first from blubbering emotionally every few moments whenever another box was carried downstairs and into the car, and the latter from making off with any garment left unattended.

As soon as Lewis and Cleo felt used to their new home, and relatively settled, Cleo decided that they should have everyone over so she could play hostess.

The guys went straight for the game console while the girls accepted Cleo's forced and elaborate grand tour of the very small house.

When they'd all settled at the round table, in the space of hard floor just between the kitchen and front room, and everyone had their tea fixed to their liking, Rikki announced her news.

She took a giant sip of tea to settle her nerves, and before she could talk herself out of it, said, "I'm pregnant."

Silence fell around the group. Lewis yelled some kind of triumphant war cry, and was punished with a smack in the back of the head from Ash.

"Ooooh!" Cleo grew mushy and clasped her hands together, "That's so great!"

Ever practical, Emma asked, "How long?"

"Since before Cleo's wedding... maybe her engagement?"

Cleo set down her cup of tea just a little too harshly. "You mean you've been pregnant for _months_ and you never told us?"

"Not _months_ and months! Just one or two!"

"Secret wedding, secret baby..." Emma started listing grievances on her fingers.

"I was trying to keep Cleo's day special! _Excuse_ me for caring!" Rikki scoffed. She popped a candy in her mouth with defiance.

"That's what happens when you try to be nice," Zane said from the couch, "Thankless lot."

Lewis nudged him to keep his mind on the game.

"Well," Emma announced. "Just because you two are going crazy with marriage and babies doesn't mean I'm going to jump at the chance to do the same."

"You're not?" Ash had stolen behind her chair, and she started to hear his voice so close.

"I... well... " Emma turned a curious shade of red and cleared her throat. "I just meant that I'm not desperately looking."

"I hope you're not 'looking' at any other guys while you're with me."

"I don't mean... Forget it," Emma sighed.

"What about you?" Ash asked Cleo. "Are you and Lewis making kids?"

"Oh!" She paused with her cup halfway to her lips. "I hadn't thought..."

"Ash! Don't put ideas into Cleo's head!" Emma chided. "She and Lewis _just_ got married. They don't need to worry about a baby right now. I mean, think of the expenses, and the time involved..."

Ash shrugged. "It was just a question."

"Yeah, our guppy would be way cuter than anything you two would produce, anyway," Rikki said with a condescending smirk. "Best leave the baby-making to the experts."

Cleo stuck her tongue out, but remained rather quiet the rest of their visit.

After three more rounds of tea, and Lewis being the decided champion of virtual golf, the others headed home. Cleo waved excitedly from the doorway until they'd all dispersed, then shut the door with a happy sigh.

"Well, that was a success."

Lewis was staring at the sink full of dishes. "What do we do, now that you don't have Kim to bribe? I'd offer to do them myself, but... I have the same problem as you."

Cleo rolled her eyes. "Well, you _could_ use the rubber gloves. But I bet there's an easier way."

For the next few hours, Lewis and Cleo took the time experimenting with their water powers to see whose could get the dishes cleaned the quickest and most thoroughly. In the end, Cleo was responsible for washing and Lewis for drying.

"Somehow I think that would have been faster just using gloves," Lewis pointed out, repelling the clean water off a decorative platter. He didn't watch where the excess water was going, and it splashed onto a stack of dry plates.

Cleo failed to hide her giggle. "Yeah, but it was more fun this way!" She drew a large soap bubble out of the sink and made it hover just over his head.

"What are you...? Don't!" he warned, but Cleo had already popped it.

"Oops," she said, feigning innocence. "I must have lost control of my powers for a second!"

"Aw, now I'm going to change!" he whinged. Realising the kitchen floor would not be the most comfortable place to lose his legs and fall, Lewis dashed for the adjoining room, but not before pelting Cleo with sink water.

She squealed, and ran right behind him, tripping over nothing as her legs disappeared, and falling on top of Lewis who had transformed just moments before her.

"Hello," he murmured roguishly, "Nice of you to join me."

Cleo stared down at him and felt brave looking into the warmth of his brown eyes.

"I want a baby!" she blurted without further thought. "I've always loved kids, but I didn't realise how much I want my own until Rikki told us about hers today, and I know there's a lot to still do and think about, but Lewis, Rikki thinks her baby would be cuter than ours, and I don't believe her!"

"So you want to prove her wrong?" he laughed, thoroughly amused.

She took his playfulness as sugar-coated rejection and pouted. "I _want_ a mini-me! Or you... I suppose I'd live if it was a boy. _Please_, Lewis?" she begged.

"I suppose," he said, grabbing two handfuls of her hair and kissing her to distraction, "I'll help you make a mini-me."

"No, a mini-_me_!" Cleo corrected, then showered him with signs of gratitude.

Before they knew it their legs returned, and with them their clothes, which they considered quite the problem.

Cleo hurried them to their bedroom to finish what they'd begun.

_-x-_

"Cleo!" Lewis called from the kitchen, fishing pole in hand. "I thought we were going fishing today."

"I'm sorry, I forgot." Her feeble voice came from the bathroom where he went to find her.

"Are you okay?" Her hair was a wavy mess down her shoulders and she hadn't bothered to get dressed yet. "You look kind of queasy."

"Yeah, I just don't feel right today."

"It's not morning sickness is it? Because you've already slept half the morning and… what?" She was looking at him like he'd grown a second tail. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I haven't… you know…" she twiddled her fingers while biting her lip nervously, "…in a while."

Lewis nearly dropped his tackle box. "Uuuh… well, it could be nothing. Sometimes you just… skip it, right? No need to worry!"

"What if it's not nothing? What if I am…" her voice dropped to a whisper, "pregnant?"

"That would be incredible!"

"Would it?"

"Of course! It's what you wanted, isn't it?"

"I did... I do! But I never asked if _you_ wanted a baby. I was just so excited for Rikki, I didn't stop to think if a baby was right for us. I'm sorry, Lewis." She hung her head.

"Cleo... nothing would make me happier than being Dad to our mini-me."

She smiled faintly, still not convinced.

"It's alright," he said, putting his fishing gear down so he could take her by the shoulders, "We don't know for sure yet, and when we do…"

"But I can't go to a doctor!" she cried, growing even more agitated, "What if they found out?"

"I've birthed a dolphin before. I'll just do my research and it's about the same concept, right?"

"You _can't_ be serious."

"But I am! It'll be fine!"

"What about medical stuff? Like the solution they use for sonograms? How much of that is water based? What if I turn, and it erases my pregnancy?!"

"I don't think that's going to happen. Rikki's been fine, hasn't she? And I'll make a solution that doesn't turn you!"

She put her hand protectively on her belly. "Everything has to be safe for our baby," she said sharply.

Lewis let his mind wander for a moment. "'Our baby,'" he breathed.

Cleo had to smile, then. She stole to her husband's side and rested her head on his shoulder. Suddenly, he was okay with missing a day of fishing.

"Everything is so perfect," Cleo sighed, and Lewis had to agree.


	27. Chapter 27

**Epilogue**

"Noah McCartney, what have I told you about climbing on the _outside_ of the structure?" Cleo chided her son from the park bench, struggling under the weight of two large shoulder bags of snacks, ointments, bandages, nappies, and all of what used to be the contents of her handbag.

The curly haired toddler glanced over his shoulder with a sheepish grin, hardly concerned with his mum's struggles.

"I said not to do it, right? You're gonna fall and kill yourself." She turned to Rikki, "I don't know what to do with him! He never seems to run out of energy."

Rikki chuckled fondly at Cleo's wild appearance and pulled a dried cereal bit off her shoulder. "He was even in a hurry before he was born, coming out too soon!"

"It's _true_! I don't know what we would have done if Lewis didn't have keys to the birthing centre."

Rikki tsk'ed. "How does he like going to school and having to study about all the things he's already got hands-on experience with?"

"Oh, you know Lewis. He loves the course work. Any excuse to study, really. I wish he could get Noah to show an interest in reading. The closest he got was putting on his dad's glasses and pretending to teach school."

Cleo smiled as she remembered it. Lewis was about to protest the misuse of his reading glasses, but was soon won over by Noah's enthusiasm and followed along. Cleo found him sitting cross legged on the floor, paying close attention to his son's stuttered lecture on 'icksy worms.'

"Aw, give the kid a break," Rikki said, "He's just..." she took a deep breath, scrunching up her face to find the right word, "a boy."

As if in response, Noah came running over as fast as his short legs would carry him, asking for a juice box before he'd quite caught his breath. A little girl came in tow, possessing the same striking blue eyes and curly blonde hair as her mother, and her father's expression of intended mischief. She climbed up on Rikki's lap to throw her arms around her neck and kiss her cheek.

"Mum," she said very seriously, "You know how I love you?"

"Of course, Guppy. Why?"

"Because I lost my pink hairclip, and Noah says mums will love you no matter what."

Cleo laughed out loud, making it very difficult for Rikki not to do the same.

"Right, well mums can also be disappointed..."

"Yes," she stopped her with as much determination as a three year old can posses, "But don't worry a bit. Noah will find it!"

"Oh, Noah will?" Rikki shared a knowing smile with Cleo. "Not gonna find your own clip, Phoebe?"

Not interested in where the conversation was heading, Phoebe slid off her mum's lap and stood behind Noah hopefully.

"And one for 'Ebee!" Noah cried, reaching for another juice.

Phoebe squeezed her carton just a little too excitedly and squirted grape juice all over the front of Noah's shirt. They both laughed gleefully, but Cleo jumped up, her face contorted into a frightened mess.

"Oh, no!" she fumbled for a towel from the nearest bag and furiously scrubbed her arm before sitting down hard. "I forgot. I'm waterproof today!"

Rikki rolled her eyes. "How do you forget something like that? I would have thought Lewis would make gobs of that stuff."

"He did. But it only works for twenty-four hours before the side effects kick in, so I don't use it that often. Noah!" she exclaimed, "Your shirt's a mess! Let me put a clean one on." She dug through both bags but found nothing to help her boy with. "I can't believe it! Two full bags of things, and I didn't pack a fresh shirt!"

"Here," Rikki unzipped a pocket from her own, more organised bag and pulled out a shirt that was a touch nearer pink than red. "Use one of Guppy's."

Cleo quickly swapped his shirt before he could question the dubious colour and sent him off to throw out his empty juice carton.

As the kids returned to their playing, Rikki leaned over and asked in a hush, "Hey, does he know? About..." She made hand gestures that were meant to represent a tail.

"Yeah... At first we told him we had skin allergies to the water, but I hated that we couldn't go swimming as a family, or use our powers around him. We told him it's a secret. Now he just asks why _he_ can't move the water or grow a tail."

Rikki nodded. "I thought for a while it might pass on, and Phoebe would transform at some point."

"Lewis said it's because of Mako. He gives a much longer explanation with all the scientific terms, but basically, it's not something any of our kids would get. Unless they took their own trip to Mako during a full moon..."

"Stop right there," Rikki warned her, "We don't need schools of merfolk running around, trying to hide their secret. My Guppy can try her hand at a normal life, thank you."

"Yeah, and if she marries Noah..."

"Hold up!" Zane called out from behind them. He made it to the bench, and glared at Cleo. "You're not setting up my daughter to marry your son. He'll never be good enough."

Rikki reached up to poke him square in the chest. "You sound like your dad."

Cleo wasn't discouraged.

"Hey!" a familiar voice turned their attention to the path twisting around the park. Emma strode towards them, still wearing boots and holding her riding helmet tucked under her arm.

"Don't either of you check your mobiles?" she demanded as she got closer.

"Not when we're here, enjoying our kids play _date_," she said with emphasis.

"Control yourself," Zane scoffed.

"I have some big news, and I wanted to share it. But if you're too busy..."

"Did Ash make you manager of the riding school?" Rikki guessed, ignoring her threats of departure.

"No. But he's making me a partner."

"What does that mean?" Cleo wondered.

Emma held out her left hand to show a shiny gold addition to her ring finger.

"Oh, Emma!" Cleo jumped up to hug her.

"Finally," Rikki said, but stood to offer congratulations as well.

"I knew it!" Cleo gushed, "I knew you'd come around!"

"Yeah, well Ash can be _very_ persuasive," she admitted with a blush. "He basically said I could marry him or find another job."

"Romantic!" Rikki nodded.

"Mummy!" Noah had appeared again to latch on to his mum's leg. "I want to be romantic!"

"Me, too!" Phoebe chimed in, tugging on Zane's shirt.

"Only mums and dads get to be romantic," Zane said, hoisting his little Guppy onto his shoulders. "You can be romantic after you finish school and learn how to make lots of money."

"Can I be romantic after I make a hundred and four dollars?"

Rikki laughed and pinched her rosy cheek. "How about a hundred and five dollars?"

"Okay!" Phoebe leaned down to whisper in her dad's ear. "Daddy. Noah's wearing a girl's shirt."

"Haha! Did you tell him?"

He could tell she shook her head by the way she swayed on his shoulders.

"That's probably for the best."

"I should head home," Emma said. "I want to shower this horse smell off me."

"Wait!" Cleo made that look the girls were used to seeing all through their teen years; the one that meant she was concocting a plan. "Why don't we all meet back at our place to celebrate Emma's engagement?"

"Will Lewis be okay with that?" Emma asked.

"Ask him yourself," said Zane. "Here he comes."

"Hey you!" Cleo embraced him. "How was work?"

"Oh, good. They were surprised when I started giving advice to the surgeon. I was only supposed to be observing."

"Overachiever," Rikki grumbled.

Lewis reached over to tug on one of her braids, earning a glare from both Rikki and his wife. "I have to set the right example." With that he reached down and picked up his bouncing son, who evidently was quite ready to be a part of the excitement.

"What's this about people coming over?"

Cleo hastily explained about Emma's engagement and the need for an immediate celebration, but from Lewis's rather sheepish congratulations it was plain he already knew. She smacked his chest in reproach. "You should have said something!"

He shrugged, putting on his best pout that generally got him back in her good graces. "Ash needed to tell somebody. You girls get to make all the announcements."

Emma rolled her eyes and Rikki and Zane appeared to have had enough of the conversation and were giving each other a proper kiss in greeting.

Cleo huffed but gave him a quick peck on the cheek in acceptance. "Fine. But you're still cleaning the bathroom to get ready for tonight."

Lewis nodded dejectedly but could not be too upset, not when she was prattling about all the things they needed to make it a suitable party.

So with each of their little ones firmly attached to a parental hip, and promises to meet up again in a few hours, they went their separate ways.

* * *

**Farewell Notes:** Once again, I'd like to thank you all for all your lovely reviews! I must also thank my wondrous Beta, and best mate Kitty Pimms, for without her this would not have an ending, and none of my projects would ever be completed. It is her persistent demanding chapters of me that kept this going. :)

For those of you who have questioned the possibility of a sequel, I really don't have that desire. I've done exactly what I set out to do with this story, and it would be difficult to try writing something I'm not inspired to when I don't have a plot in mind. I _will_ be posting a new story soon, one based on _Felicity: An American Girl, _though quite a bit sadder at the start than the books ever were. Look for the title:** Lissie Nye**.

I'm also planning a darker H2O fic that will be called **The Dark Side of the Moon**. It'll be a "what if Denman won?" story, where our mermaids end up in captivity. I don't have a time frame for that yet, but it'll come!

So yes, two much less lighthearted projects... although I will still hold to my happy endings.

Have a lovely rest of your week!


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